Game Changer
by Akela Victoire
Summary: Twenty five years ago, the Winx Club disbanded after the events of Season 4. Now, a mysterious shape-shifter has shown up in Magix setting up events that threaten not only their children, but all of Magix as well. They all must put aside their differences to save their worlds and in the process, they discover that this new villainess is closer to their past than they think...
1. Chapter 1

_Greetings from Barbados and Happy Halloween, everyone!_

Akela V. here with yet another Winx Club story. However this one is a little different to what I usually do. It's a next-gen fic that features primarily my OC children of the Winx Club and... _others._

It's been in the works for a long time, but only solidified around late May/early June. I started mapping it out and then wrote the first eight chapters in July for Camp NaNoWriMo so I'm pretty far ahead in pre-writing and updates _should _usually come out at least once a week!

It contains some suggestive material and occasional swearing, but not too much.

Anon reviewers, I do _not_ answer questions in my author's notes unless it's a common question posed by both signed **_and_** unsigned reviewers. So if you feel the need to discuss a plot point/ask a question, refer to the e-mail address I have up on my profile. No guarantee for **_anyone_** that questions will be answered though.

In order to fully understand certain references, there are a few other stories which you will need to read, the details of which are on my profile page.

_I dedicate this fic to **Chibi Horsewoman,** _**_Midnights-AM-Child_**_ and **LoveLoveLovix**_**_,_**_all of whom provided some wonderful feedback on this story and have fantastic next-gen fics of their own, which I highly recommend._

With all of that being said, let's begin what is hopefully as enjoyable a journey for you as it is for me, shall we?

* * *

"Are you absolutely sure you want to go there, sweetheart?" In a large, beautiful garden, a teenage girl with dark brown mid-back length hair in a French braid was having her clothes inspected by her mother and hating every minute of it.

"You're not going to change my mind, Mother. I'm going to Cloud Tower, not Alfea. I'm going to be a witch…" The girl stepped back.

The blonde woman pouted. "Fine then, Eleanor…"

A brown haired man stepped out into the garden.

"Stella, are you trying to get our daughter to go to Alfea again? She's not going to change her mind, you know…"

Stella sighed. "At least it was worth a shot, Brandon…"

"Let's go, Nori. Arthur's waiting for you at the Atrium…" Brandon led her away.

"Oh joy. Wouldn't want to keep him waiting, would we?" Eleanor rolled her brown eyes as she adjusted her black, oval-shaped glasses at the same time.

"Do you have everything you need?" Brandon asked.

"Yep. Luggage all shrank and in my pockets, I'm wearing my glasses and the Ring of Solaria is safely on my finger." Eleanor waved her right hand casually, letting the precious gems embedded in the Ring glisten in the sunlight pouring in from the glass ceiling.

"Good. And please try not to hurt your brother Arthur too much this year. We're going to need him to rule Solaria one day…" Brandon gestured to the slightly muscled, tall young man with his brown hair in a short ponytail and silver-blue eyes.

"I wouldn't trust him to rule a stick, but I'll oblige as long as he doesn't do anything excessively stupid…" Eleanor shrugged and walked forward to join her older brother.

"_He's dead…"_ Brandon thought as he walked away.

"Still going to Cloud Tower, aren't you?" Arthur looked at her disdainfully.

"Oh, shut up, Arthur and let's go." Eleanor threw her Ring into the air where it activated its sceptre form.

Catching it adeptly in her outstretched right hand, she swiped it and the pair of Solarian royal siblings were off to Magix for the year.

* * *

"Oh, you've finally reached your Senior year at Alfea! I can't believe it! It feels like it was just yesterday that we sent you off for your first day there!" Flora exclaimed excitedly.  
"I know! The time flew by so fast! I can't wait to get back!" A lightly-tanned skinned girl flicked her shoulder length black hair out of her olive green eyes and sat to comb it at the hallway mirror.

"_Plus Ben won't be there…"_ The girl thought wryly.

"The Winx had so much fun while we were there…" Flora watched her daughter with her own olive green eyes.

"I'm just hoping to finish off my nice, quiet school life and if there's excitement involved this year, it's not of the variety that involves fighting some powerful evil people, mom…" Juniper finished her hair by slipping on a white headband and stood up.

"Now I just need to go get my packing finished and I can…" Flora heard her daughter's voice trail off as she went to her room upstairs.

"BENJAMIN! WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GREAT DRAGON DID YOU DO TO MY BEDROOM?!"

Flora sighed. "There they go again…"

"IT WAS AN ACCIDENT, JUNIPER!"

"_NOTHING_ IS EVER AN ACCIDENT WHEN IT COMES TO YOU, BENJAMIN!"

"We should probably go up there before they kill each other…" Helia passed through the hallway and dashed up the stairs.

"_It's too damn early in the morning for another migraine…"_ Flora massaged her forehead as she followed her husband up the stairs.

When they entered Juniper's pink-walled room, it looked as if her luggage had exploded everywhere.

Clothes and other items were strewn around the room haphazardly and Juniper's Persian cat Barbara hung dangerously from the hangings on the four poster bed, hissing down at Benjamin angrily.

"He… He used his telekinesis to throw my luggage- and Barbara- all over the place!" Juniper muttered angrily as she cast various spells to tidy her room and repack the luggage, finishing by rescuing Barbara and putting her safely on the floor where she promptly sped out of the room, still hissing angrily.

"It was an accident!" Benjamin wailed, grey eyes filling with tears.

"What were you doing in Juniper's room anyway, Ben?" Helia raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"Look. If I don't leave now, I'll be late for my first day of Senior year and I simply can't have that! Can someone _please _take me to school?" Juniper stood outside the doorway, trying to coax Barbara back into her cat carrier.

"I'll do it…" Flora sighed, transforming into her Believix and summoning her Zoomix wings.

* * *

"So, how do you like your tour of Magix so far, little sis? You think you'll get used to living here instead of Melody?" A black-haired, dark blue-eyed young man swept his arm around at the various buildings as he put an arm around his maroon-haired, dark blue-eyed sister's shoulder.

"Magix looks pretty cool, but I'll always miss home. I do think I'd have a lot of fun here though!"The girl cheered.

"Yes you will, but remember that school should always come first, Neima!"

"_Of course, _Jaden. School will always come first since I do want to become a great fairy just like our mom someday, after all…" Neima smiled.

"Good. _Please_ try not to stir up any trouble and piss people off this year. People generally don't like that." Jaden narrowed his eyes at his younger sister.

"Hey, I can't help it if people don't want to hear the truth!" Neima held up her hands in a gesture of surrender.

"_Right…" _Jaden eyed her suspiciously.

"I still plan on having the biggest blog at that school and the Realm Wide Realm though!"

"Just as long as you don't get sued for libel and drag me into your mess…" Jaden remarked wryly.

"I promise that much at least. _Trying_ not to drag you into my 'mess' _indeed…_"

"Now shouldn't you be back at Red Fountain with Lewis, Adrian and Crown Prince Arthur of Solaria?" Neima chuckled.

"Don't remind me." Jaden said darkly. "Lewis jokes about being the Crown Prince of Domino sometimes, but Arthur rubs it in your face any change he gets… And not only do I have to put up with _him _there for another year, but dad's there too…"

"At least Princess Eleanor is in Magix this year at Cloud Tower. I heard that Princess Stella had almost as big a fit about that as Queen Bloom did with Princess Joanna!" Neima exclaimed.

Jaden chuckled. "Should make things pretty interesting this year, her keeping him in line …" He checked his watch.

"We really should separate now… Unless you want to be late your first day and face Griselda's legendary wrath…"

Neima's eyes widened. "Oh hell no! I'm gonna have to go get the bus right now! Bye, big bro!" She ran for the bus stop faster than Jaden had ever seen her move.

* * *

"_Ican'twaitIcan'twaitIcan'twait! _Alfea is gonna be _so much fun…_"

A petite, auburn-and-dark-brown-haired girl's shoulder-length wavy hair went up and down as the person the hair was attached to darted around the large living room.

"Allegra, calm down or you'll bump into some- OUCH!" Timmy cringed as he watched his youngest child and only daughter slam rather painfully into a marble column.

"I'm okay!" Allegra called from the floor.

"Allegra, are you all packed? Adrian's ready so we'll be leaving soon!" Mirta's image appeared above a silver device on the coffee table.

She blinked upon seeing her daughter sprawled out on the black-carpeted floor.

"Allegra, did you have too much sugar already this morning?" Mirta raised an eyebrow.

"Nope! Just running on natural exuberance!" Allegra jumped up from the floor and brushed herself off.

"Try not bruising that brain of yours. You'll need it for Alfea. It's not all fun and games, you know…" Timmy walked over and began fussing over her.

"Daddy, daddy, I'm okay! I'm _okay! _I will be _okay._" She inched away from his grasp and smiled, her honey-brown eyes practically shining with excitement.

"I can't believe this. My baby girl is going away to college!" Timmy smiled a watery smile.

"To think that many years ago, we were telling your brothers who were very young themselves that they were finally going to get a baby sister…" Mirta walked over to Timmy and grasped his hand tightly.

"And now that baby sister is off to Alfea…" A young man that looked like a younger version of Timmy except with short, curly hair, blue eyes, no glasses and slightly more muscle leaned in the doorway.

"Hey big bro A!" Allegra grinned.

"Hey little sis A!" He grinned back.

"Keep an eye on her where Mirta can't, will you please, Adrian?" Timmy asked as he checked his watch.

"I've got a meeting with some other execs over in the next city. I'll call you all later. Have a good day!" Timmy gave Mirta a quick kiss and bustled off to get ready.

"Let's get this show on the road, people! And Allegra, honey, don't think you're getting off any easier just because I'm a teacher at your school…" Mirta said as she snapped her fingers and the large front doors opened to reveal an even larger courtyard.

"DRAT!"

* * *

"Joanna, please _behave_ this year..."

"No promises."

"Try to get along with other people..."

"No promises."

"Please act like a proper princess should..."

"Not happening..."

"At least let me fix your hair. It looks horrid!"

"Do _not_ touch my hair."

The teenage female arguing with her mother refused to budge.

Spiky blonde hair barely hid her light blue eyes as she stared at the red-headed woman in front of her.

It was not shaping up to be a good day for Queen Bloom of Eraklyon.

Her youngest child and only daughter Princess Joanna was now entering her _second_ year of studies at Cloud Tower was the first reason for her bad day.

The second?

She was apparently an excellent student witch and showed no desire to even learn a small amount of fairy magic.

The third?  
She wouldn't even let her own mother fix that wild hair of hers…

"Mother, I'm going back to Cloud Tower and nothing you say or do is going to stop me! Besides, why would I want to go to school in such a prissy looking castle anyway?" Joanna scoffed.

"I went there and I had a wonderful time!" Bloom frowned at her daughter who was being a general pain in the neck- as she usually was.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. If you call being attacked by villains every single year a wonderful time, I don't want to know what your concept of a bad time is. Now can I _please_ get to school? I promised Eleanor that I'd show her around and I want to find out if my room re-assignment request was approved so I can know whose hair to set fire to this year!" Joanna held up a hand and flicked her fingers, forming a fire ball.

"Joanna, you can't just go around setting people's hair- or other parts of their bodies- on fire just because you can't get along with them!" Bloom exclaimed exasperatedly.

"Technically she _can,_ mom. It's more that _she shouldn't…_" One of the pair of red-headed, young twin men that walked in corrected.

"Besides, Hectate kind of_ did_ deserve to have her hair burnt off by the Shadowfire…" The other said.

"Thank you for defending me, my dear brothers…" Joanna walked over to them.

"We've got about two hours before we have to be in Magix, so…" One twin said to her.

"And about the same for me to get to Oskuria…" The other checked his watch.

"Well, I'm off to Cloud Tower again, dear _Mother. _Bye-bye!" Joanna smirked as she and her older brothers disappeared.

Bloom sunk into a plush chair nearby just as her husband King Sky entered the room.

"She gave you a hard time again, didn't she?" He asked as he sat next to her.

Bloom rubbed her forehead. _"It's too damn early in the morning for this…"_

* * *

The platinum-blonde girl with hot pink streaks in her hair flicked the fringe out of her emerald green eyes as she stood outside the winged gates of Alfea.

"_Eh… I liked the Institute of Magic better…" _She thought as she strode forward.

"Name?"

"_And this is the infamous Griselda that I've heard so much about from some of the past exchange girls…"_ She thought again.

"Zara of Earth." The girl answered.

"Zara of Earth... Ah, here you are! On a year-long exchange trip from the Institute of Magic… You'll be expected to maintain your high standards while here, young lady…" Griselda checked her off the list.

"I would expect or do nothing less than excellence while here, of course." Zara answered before walking off.

As she walked, she glanced around at the other fairies there, taking in the differences between here and the fairy school on Earth.

"_This realm is definitely crazier looking than at home…" _She glanced the bright lime green hair that was pulled up into a beehive on another fairy's head.

"_Now I know why mum and dad never batted an eye when I told them I wanted to add hot pink streaks to my hair…" _Zara lifted a few pink strands and glanced at them for a moment.

And was blindsided by a rampaging fairy that had apparently had too much sugar in her tea this morning…

"What the bloody hell was that?!" She exclaimed.

"_OhI'msosorryIbumpedintoyoulikethatIseemtobebumping intoalotofthingsthismorning… _Are you okay?"

Zara groaned and sat up. "Perhaps when I get hold of some Aspirin…" She pinched the bridge of her nose and allowed the apparently hyper fairy to help her up.

"I'm really, _really _sorry about that! It's just that I'm so excited to be starting my first day at Alfea! You look a little older than me. Did you go to school here last year?" The… _short _girl with now very messy auburn and dark brown wavy hair asked.

"Actually, no. I went to the Institute of Magic last year. I'm on exchange this year..."

"Oh, so you're an Earthie then! Love your accent, by the way. It just sounds so… _refined sounding._ I'm Allegra, from Planet Electro- my dad's planet, though my mom is from Psyche and I'm an Illusions fairy. Who are you?" Allegra asked.

"My name is Zara, I am indeed from Earth- England if you really want to get specific- and I'm a Gemstone fairy…" Zara replied.

As they walked and talked, Zara quickly came to the conclusion that Allegra seemed nice enough, if not hyperactive and a bit on the crazy side.

She just hoped she wouldn't have to share a dorm with her.

"Oh look! We're in a room together! Isn't that great?" Allegra cheered.

Well, damn it all.

There went her hopes for a peaceful school year...

They entered the room and found a black-haired, green eyed girl sitting in a chair reading a book with a fuzzy white cat on her lap (Zara hated cats) and a maroon-haired, blue-eyed girl looking through pictures on a camera and muttering something about a blog.

The black-haired girl looked up. "Hey Allegra! I was waiting for you to come back. Welcome to Alfea! I'm a Senior so I won't be rooming with you, but I'll be stopping by to visit sometimes and make sure you're okay!"

"Cool! This year is going to be great, I can tell!" Allegra exclaimed. "Oh, hey Barbara!" She bent down to pet the cat that had jumped down from Juniper's lap and sauntered over to her.

"_This Juniper girl named her cat __**Barbara?**__"_ Zara raised an eyebrow in thought.

The maroon-haired girl put her camera in a gorgeous black handbag with navy blue handles that Zara would have loved to own.

"Hey, I'm Neima of Melody! You're Zara, aren't you?" The girl walked over and offered her hand for a handshake which Zara accepted.

"Yes, I am. I guess I'm to be sharing this apartment with you and Allegra then?"

"Yeah. Now I know I like gossip and excitement, but those two when they are together might one day create an explosion worthy of Princess Stella…" Neima chuckled as they walked into Zara's room (she was the owner of the single suite in this apartment).

Zara sat up straight on the bare queen-sized bed she had thrown herself onto as soon as she got inside.

"Do you by any chance… actually _know_ her?" She asked.

"We've met. My mom Musa is part of the Winx Club as well as Juniper's mom, Flora. Princess Stella's daughter is at Cloud Tower as well as Queen Bloom's daughter. And Allegra's mother is good friends with Juniper's mom…" Neima answered.

"Let's just hope that you don't attract as much trouble as your moms did. I'd like to have a rather peaceful year here, thank you very much!" Zara exclaimed as she used her magic to unshrink her now unpocketed luggage and retrieved her bed sheets.

"I want some excitement, but not as much as mom ha-" Neima was cut off by the sounds of small explosions in their living room.

"_Joy…"_ Zara thought, grumbling as she and Neima went to investigate the noises.

This year was going to be… _interesting_ if just having Allegra as a roommate was any indication…


	2. Chapter 2

"Silas, more wine, please…" Stella held out her crystal goblet and a server promptly arrived to fill it with red wine.

"Me too, please…" Bloom held up her own crystal goblet.

The two royals lounged next to the pool of the Solarian Royal Vacation Home catching up- something they had been too busy to do until recently.

"How do you deal with your only daughter wanting to be a witch, Bloom? There hasn't been a Solarian-born witch princess in centuries!" Stella took a gulp of her wine.

"I hate it. I really don't know why Joanna would actually _want_ to be a witch. I told her about our times studying at Alfea and I told her about our bad experiences with witches, particularly the Trix… " Bloom sipped her wine.

"I know they're not all Trix-level evil, but I still don't like my Nori hanging around with people that think using Dark Magic to fight evil is a good idea. It's a _ridiculous _idea! Dark Magic is Dark for a reason!" Stella gulped down even more wine. "Not to mention the absolutely _horrid_ fashion sense witches have in general!"

"You don't have to tell me twice. Did I ever tell you about what Joanna did last year? No? Well, I sent her to school in a lovely light blue dress with lilac trim. You know what she did?"

Stella took another drink of wine before answering. "I have an idea. Why don't you confirm it?"

"She video calls me- wearing some horrid black and dark grey outfit that she seems to love now- and is holding up the same dress she left in as it catches fire while she sings the chorus of that damn Alicia Keys song, replacing "Girl" with "Dress". There are days when I regret introducing my children to Earth music…" Bloom sighed as Stella gasped in horror.

"It was a SpellaMcCartney too, gone up in Shadowfire." Bloom sighed again after she took another sip of wine. "And all I could do was just stand there, watching the ashes float down from her hands…"

"My Nori likes dressing up occasionally but not as much as I do. I wish she'd take more of an interest in fashion…" Stella took another sip of wine.

"Uh-huh… So how are your children getting along? Are Arthur and Eleanor still at one another's throats?"

"Yep, they're still at it. _Always._ Every single day they do it. Eleanor's never lost an argument with him and never falls for his verbal traps. Arthur on the other hand always rises to the bait. He's also been getting closer to some of our staff's daughters. Way _too_ close for mine or Brandon's liking…" Stella frowned, finishing off her glass of wine and calling for another bottle.

"You mean…" Bloom raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, that is _exactly_ what I mean. With the good looks he got from Brandon- and me of course- these silly little girls keep throwing themselves at him and he keeps… If he doesn't pull himself together by the end of this school year, I'm going to ask Parliament for a vote to let Eleanor inherit the Solarian throne instead and Daddy agrees with me. She may be a witch, but she has a much more solid head on her shoulders than her older brother- and more than me when I was her age, I must admit…" The Solarian princess took to drinking straight from the bottle.

"Wow. My boys are okay and I thought Jo was a handful…" Bloom took the bottle from Stella and poured herself another glass.

"Enough about our troublesome children. I wonder… We haven't seen the other Winx for a while. Do you think I should organize a dinner or something? We all probably need it!" Stella perked up a bit, helped by the copious amounts of alcohol she had been consuming.

"It's worth a try!" Bloom cheered up a bit as well.

"Goody!" Stella jumped up excitedly.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we may have a dinner to plan! As soon as I check to see that all of the dinner guests are available!"

* * *

A young woman with dark magenta shoulder length hair pulled back into a ponytail and dark yellow eyes sat in a corner of the still popular Hex Café, stirring her mug of coffee idly.

All by herself and partly concealed by the shadows, she watched as the crowds of customers (mostly of the Cloud Tower variety) moved around curiously, currently having nothing better to do.

Two witches walked in just then- one a spiky-haired blonde wearing dark grey and black and the other a glasses-wearing brunette with her hair in a French braid. They seemed to be good friends, despite obvious differences she could see and hear. One was slightly older (the blonde) and seemed more… wild than the brunette who seemed a little more reserved. They also spoke with different accents. Her mother taught her to recognize the differences in their weekend travels to Magix and other realms. The blonde was Eraklonese and the brunette was Solarian.

It was amazing what one could tell just by watching and listening to people, even moreso when they don't know you're doing it.

Comes in pretty handy when you're getting intel on the enemy…

She drank the hot, black coffee down in one gulp and seemed unaffected by the beverage's temperature.

The girls looked familiar… Where had she seen them befo-

The magenta-haired woman realized.

Princess Joanna "Jo" of Eraklyon and Princess Eleanor "Nori" of Solaria! Both fairy-born witches whose mothers… had attended Alfea at the same time as her own. How could she not have realized that from the moment she saw them enter?

These could be two very interesting witches to watch indeed…

* * *

"So, how did you enjoy your first day as a Cloud Tower witch, Nori?" Joanna sipped her drink- called a Firecracker (a mix of the fruit juice of your choice and an assortment of various kinds of strong alcohol).

"Better than I could have ever expected. I got a roommate I could actually live with-" Eleanor gestured with the straw of her own drink (Vanilla Shrink- an odd concoction of milk, vanilla essence and white rum) towards Joanna. "-and classes are pretty interesting.

"You'll love the Hexes and Curses class. Zarathurstra is a master at that sort of thing. You're learning from the best!" Joanna grinned.

"I keep reminding my mother that even if I'm training as a witch, at least I'm going to the best of the best witch schools. She pretty much gave up at that point and told me not to blow up any Potions labs like she did during her first Freshman year at Alfea." She and Joanna burst out laughing. "She still drops little hints though, but she's not so bad…"

"Unlike my mom. I'm a Sophomore now and she _still_ gives me grief…" Joanna moaned.

"Well, you could always…" Eleanor trailed off as she saw a fairy who was seated on the other side of the café (and dressed in an outfit that looked like something she would wear herself) being thoroughly irritated by some other witches.

"Look, Jo…" The Solarian witch inclined her head towards the blooming confrontation.

"Ah. Hectate and her crew bothering a newbie to the Magix dimension. I don't know this fairy but hey. It's an excuse to set Hectate on fire again…" Joanna gulped down the last of her drink, slammed the glass down (miraculously it did not break) and strode over.

* * *

All Zara wanted was a nice drink after her first day at Alfea. It wasn't a "terrible day so I need to drown my sorrows" drink. Just a "time to relax" drink. Plus Magix didn't really have age-restricted drinking laws like back home on Earth so she intended to take full advantage of that.

The Hex Café appealed to her when she went exploring the city on her own so she strolled in, looked at the menu, liked what she saw on it and decided to order.

She'd just finished her sandwich and drink (simple Rum and Coke- Earth drinks were really catching on in Magix) when a quartet of witches led by one with buzz-cut dark purple hair, grey eyes and a lanky figure sauntered over, a sneer seemingly painted onto her face.

"_Ew…" _Was Zara's first thought when she saw this witch.

"Fairy, don't you know that you're on witch turf? Your kind doesn't belong in here." She said, she and her cronies surrounding her little table.

"Oh? I wasn't aware that witches had true territory in Magix. I saw a place that I liked and I decided to try here. Money is money, regardless of the hands it comes from, after all…" Zara replied coolly.

She wasn't bothered in the slightest. If it came to a fight, her mother had trained her well at home and Professor MacAdams had taught her several handy combat spells that she was good at.

"Get out, fairy or I'll rip your wings out myself!" Ugly Skinny snapped.

Zara was about to utter a stinger (she was well known for them at home), but someone else did it _for _her.

"Hey, Hectate! Four against one? That's hardly fair!"

Zara turned around and saw a spiky haired blonde witch and a brunette witch wearing glasses and her hair in a French braid standing there. The blonde was the one who had spoken.

"We witches don't always play fair- but then you wouldn't know that being a fairy born, would you Joanna? You and little Eleanor too…" Hectate sneered as her cronies chuckled.

"Let's take this show outside. I'd rather not have my favourite eatery in Magix trashed…" Eleanor activated the Sceptre and brought them all outside.

"I'll teach you to mess with me, Joanna! You and your little friends!" Hectate powered up, as did her cronies.

"We ain't friends with the fairy but I'll enjoy kicking your behind- again!" Joanna exclaimed as she, Eleanor and Zara powered up.

Dark flames danced around Joanna's fingertips and wrapped itself around her torso, burning away to reveal a flowing-sleeved, high-necked dark purple mini-dress with a navy blue waist belt. The Great Dragon swirled upwards around her, donning her legs with thigh-high navy blue high-heeled boots. Her hair went up in flames and formed a spiky, short ponytail with a navy blue ponytail band on top of her head.

Silvery light wrapped around Eleanor and increased in brightness until she could no longer be seen. The light wrapped around her braid and separated it into two low ponytails held back by black ponytail bands. A burnt orange long-sleeved bodysuit shimmered onto her body and rays of silvery light formed black, elbow length gloves around her hands and arms and a black belt. She kicked her legs one after the other and with each kick, black knee-high boots appeared on her bare feet.

Zara moved like a dancer as gemstones of various kinds covered her body and shattered, revealing a lilac strapless tube-top with a white stripe on the top and bottom that showed off her stomach. The gems formed white, knee-length leggings as well before surrounding her hair as a chain and putting it up into a bun with a white headband. The gems wrapped themselves around the top half of her leggings and her arms and when they shattered again, they formed elbow-length white gloves and a lilac mini-skirt. The gems wrapped around her feet and left behind lilac ballet flats and white energy swirled around her back where transparent, diamond-shaped wings sprouted from the energy.

Hectate growled, sending several sharp shruikens towards the trio.

"Diamond Defence!" Zara moved quickly, raising her hands and several large diamonds emerged from the ground, the shurikens embedding themselves in the diamonds instead.

One of Hectate's cronies fired a red energy beam at them, but Eleanor blasted it back with a sunbeam, sending that witch flying and making Hectate face-palm.

By now, most people around that area had scarpered for safety, except for one figure that stood atop a rooftop, watching the scene below amusedly.

Joanna flew into the air and was immediately accosted by Hectate and another lackey.

"Hectate, haven't you learned not to play with fire yet? You might get burnt- _again!_" She sent a large ball of fire towards the pair, but Hectate shielded herself and the other witch with a metal sphere.

"How stupid can you actually get?" Joanna asked in unison with Zara, who had just flown up, leaving one of the witches pinned to the ground by her hair and clothing with several rubies.

"Impressive." Joanna nodded her approval of Zara's spell.

"Thank you." Zara replied.

They both turned their attention to the metal dome in front of them.

"Hey moron! Don't you know that metal conducts heat?" Joanna sent a large blast of fire towards the metal dome, enough to completely cover it.

Barely five seconds passed before the metal dome disappeared, revealing a now cooked-looking Hectate and friend, sweating heavily.

"Flame Blitz!"

Several bursts of fire emerged from Joanna's body, knocking the pair of antagonistic witches to the ground, where Eleanor had just scorched another with a particularly powerful beam of energy from the sky.

Hectate struggled to her feet.

"You'll pay for that!" She snarled as she and the others teleported away, presumably back to Cloud Tower.

"Well, that was anticlimactic. Didn't even have to use the Sceptre much this time…" Eleanor fake-sighed in disappointment as she resumed her civilian form.

"I know, right? I was hoping for a little more _excitement_ today…" Joanna commented coolly as she did the same.

"I'm guessing you two are friends?" Zara asked, still remaining in her fairy form.

"Yep, not that it's really much of your business, but we are…" Eleanor said.

"Fair enough. Just why did you jump into that confrontation anyway? They weren't bothering you…" Zara asked curiously.

"Hectate's very existence bothers me." Joanna said simply.

"They've been at it ever since Joanna's first day at Cloud Tower…" Eleanor rolled her eyes.

"Can I at least get the names of the two arse-kicking witches standing in front of me?" Zara asked.

"My name is Joanna as you may have picked up and this one here is my roommate and friend, Eleanor." Joanna put a hand on Eleanor's shoulder.

Zara raised an eyebrow. "Princesses Joanna and Eleanor? Daughters of Queen Bloom and Princess Stella?"

"The very same and we're not prissy pampered princesses like the ones you usually find around here so don't get any ideas..." Joanna narrowed her eyes.

"Now who are you?" Eleanor asked.

"Zara. I'm an Earthling, in Magix on an exchange from the Institute of Magic and so far, this place is everything my mother warned it would be…" Zara answered wryly.

"You look a bit familiar, but I've never met you before…" Joanna wondered aloud.

"I probably do if your mum still talks about my mum and I do look a lot like mum after all. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be getting back to Alfea now and get ready for another day of classes…" Zara flew off, leaving the pair of witches puzzling over her last comments.

* * *

The magenta-haired woman who had watched the confrontation with Joanna, Eleanor, Zara vs. Hectate and her crew earlier appeared on a neatly groomed lawn with trees, shrubbery, statues and a large manor out in the distance that looked as if it could belong to any wealthy Hollywood star.

Only the people who occupied this manor were no Hollywood stars and this house was not even in the United States, far less Hollywood.

She walked over to the paved walkway, taking in the sights of the beautiful grounds casually.

Greeting the humanoid robot security guards at the large manor doors in French, she walked down the long hallway, up an even longer flight of stairs and into a bedroom at the end of a corridor which opened with a dark green light once she held a hand up to the scanner next to the door.

Sitting on a chair at the sleek black desk interlaid with clear glass on its top surface that was positioned in front of a window through which she could see the Eiffel tower in the far distance, she pressed a button under the desk, which caused a drawer, barely visible even upon close examination, to slide open.

Reaching inside, she pulled out a large, grey plastic envelope, unfastened it and carefully spread the documents across the desk.

Newspaper clippings with full colour pictures, photographs, among other things… All depicting her mother's glory days back in her home world.

Those girls she saw today- or at least two of them- were related to two different Winx Club members. Not just related, but they were their daughters as well. Even though her mother had long ago parted ways with the other Winx Club members, she still kept up with their news from afar. It wasn't in her nature to remain ignorant, after all…

As she shouldn't of what she saw today.

She replaced the contents of the drawer and left the room, knowing instinctively where her mother would be.

_La bibliothèque-_ the library.

"Mother!" She called in French, teleporting just outside of the door of the manor's library and striding in.

"I am over here, Noémie!" A feminine voice called back in French from somewhere on her right.

"Mother! I went to Magix today while you were out again. Guess who I saw there!" The conversation continued in French.

"Who?" The other voice came closer as it spoke.

"The Princesses of Eraklyon and Solaria were fighting a bunch of witches in Downtown Magic alongside a fairy who sounded British!"

"Really now?" The owner of the voice looked up from the book she was reading as she walked.

Magenta coloured shoulder length hair with grey bangs and blue eyes that looked much more hardened than they had in their youth looked at the younger woman.

"Yes indeed. They fought well. Had the witches they were fighting down in less than fifteen minutes!" Noémie wove the tale of what she had seen from the time the antagonistic witches confronted Zara in the Hex Café to the time she saw the platinum blonde with pink streaks-haired fairy fly away from Joanna and Eleanor after the fight.

The older woman chuckled. "Sounds like something the Winx Club would have done against the Trix. And similar in a way to Musa's incident near the Hex Café thirty long years ago when we were Freshmen at Alfea, oddly enough…" The woman sighed. "Those were fun days, but alas, they are behind me…"

"So what now? Most of ze Winx Club's children are een Magix now so their parents will be keeping a closer eye on any suspicious events happening in zat realm!" Noémie switched to heavily-accented English.

"You are a Winx Club child too, Noémie. It's just that I gave birth to you far sooner and with a different father than I would have ever expected almost twenty-five years ago. Remember that, dear." The woman chuckled.

"My point is, my dear daughter, that you are the daughter of the most intelligent Winx Club fairy and a powerful shapeshifter, dead before his time, unfortunately. You have inherited powers and intelligence that should be put to good use. I suggest you do so by any means necessary whether my contemporaries, their children or anyone else get in your way by _any means necessary._ Is that understood, Noémie?"

"Yes, it is, mother. I understand you quite well…" Noémie smirked as she left the room.

Noémie's mother sunk into a nearby armchair, mulling over the conversation she had just had with her daughter.

"It has been a long time ago since I last saw any of them in person. If they were to see dear old Tecna now, they'd never believe it!" Tecna chuckled as she settled down into an armchair to continue reading her book.


	3. Chapter 3

"It really is good to see you all again…" Stella and Brandon stood in front of the main entrance of the Solarian Palace, dressed in their finest formal attire, welcoming their guests.

"Really has been a while, hasn't it?" Aisha beamed, standing alone.

"Too long…" Flora and Helia stood next to them.

"How come Alexandre isn't here?" Stella asked, looking around.

"He had some business to attend to on Isis. He regrets having to turn down your invitation, but he assures you he'll be at the next one!" Aisha exclaimed.

"Well, let's go on in and we can all go catch up!" Stella waved them inside.

In a few minutes, all of them were seated in the royal gardens with cocktails and fancy hors d'oeuvres.

"So Flora, how's work going?" Stella asked.

"Busy. People never really want to attack our planet and we have great protection spells in place just in case. Queen Krystal insists "better safe than sorry" and after the hell we went through during our Alfea years, I really do have to agree with her. Plus we're hoping to host the Inter-Planetary Guardian Conference so we're got to be in our best shape if we hope to get picked." Flora took a sip of her drink.

"Good luck with that. It was hell on Melody when we hosted it three years ago and I wasn't even head of the Melodian Royal Security Service yet. _Galatea herself_ was a security risk. She always wanted to go to places that aren't secured properly and she puts herself at risk constantly. I know she's still a regular person on the inside so she wants to mingle with the people, but she has to be careful about it!" Musa exclaimed.

"You're telling me. My Joanna is never careful about anything at all though, no matter how much Sky and I try to drum it into her head…" Bloom sighed.

"She seems like quite the handful!" Mirta said, lounging next to Timmy.

"Oh, that she is. She set another witch's hair on fire last school year because they insulted her outfit for a party they were having at the school. I'm told that Shadowfire hampers hair growth apparently because it hasn't grown to even half its original length yet and no amount of hair growth spells and potions will help it…" Sky sighed.

Mirta chuckled. "Oh, I heard about that from Lucy. She was not pleased at all in her video call to me that evening, telling me about Hectate's call to her with her head still smoking and Joanna laughing somewhere in the background…"

"She sounds really out of control though. That wild temper of hers, her quickness to fight, her sheer disrespect for most authority figures..." Aisha said, sounding concerned for her friend's daughter.

"I know. We've tried our best with her, but she just seems bent on wreaking havoc and destruction no matter what we do!" Sky exclaimed. "She's so far from being a proper princess that she'd give my parents heart attacks- if they were still alive!"

"At least Joanna is better than Arthur in some ways. He's what you'd call a whole other kind of handful." Brandon frowned as he sipped his drink.

"Oh, we've heard all about him…" Aisha said.

"He's a pretty decent student overall, but far too cocky for my liking…" Riven frowned.

"Coming from Riven, that's something…" Stella said wryly.

"But in all seriousness, he's going to get himself into serious trouble that even Brandon and I won't be able to haul his ass out of this time. We've gotten him the strictest, most brutal tutors that Solaria has to offer, we try to be good parents and good role models to both him and Eleanor and _still_ he won't show that he has any discipline!" Stella complained.

"We've had to bar quite a few female relatives of palace staff from coming anywhere near him and sometimes we've even had to terminate the employment of a select few who actively encouraged it! Nothing seems to get through to him!" Brandon said.

"That bad huh?" Helia asked.

"That bad. This doesn't leave here, but Brandon, Daddy and I are seriously considering deeming him "Unfit to Rule" and allowing Eleanor to become Queen of Solaria in the future if Arthur doesn't get his shit together by the end of this school year!" Stella declared.

All except Bloom, who had known what Stella was considering beforehand, showed various degrees of surprise.

"Really? You really think that you need to go so far?" Timmy asked.

"It hasn't been done in over two hundred years and that's what almost happened to me in that Cassandra/Chimera debacle except this time, we'll be following proper procedure. Putting it to a vote in Parliament." Stella frowned.

"Oh wow." Was all Aisha could say to that.

"So, um… Why isn't Roxy here?" Flora asked, wisely seeing that a subject change was needed.

"She's in Tir Nan Og helping to organize some formal event for the IOM's twenty fifth anniversary. It's to be this really big thing and she says she hopes to invite people from outside Earth to mingle with the girls, including us if they'll allow it. I really hope they do. It would be the perfect excuse to go to Earth for a vacation…" Stella smiled.

"It would be nice. I'd love to go back to Gardenia again. I haven't been back there in over two years…" Bloom sighed wistfully.

"I say we all try our best to make it a day!" Musa declared and the others agreed with her.

"Sounds like a plan. And anyway, I have some wonderful news!" Aisha exclaimed, looking positively cheerful.

"What, what? Did Alexandre get you a absolutely gorgeous piece of jewellery that would make all the other snooty royals insanely jealous?" Stella asked eagerly, making all the women laugh.

"Same old Stella. Sometimes I wonder if you ever grew up!" Musa chortled.

"Oh I have. It's just that I still know how to have fun." Stella replied smoothly. "So, Aisha... what is it?" The Solarian princess asked eagerly.

Aisha chuckled. "As much fun as that would be, that's not the case. Alexandre and I are going to have a baby!" She exclaimed.

"OH MY GOODNESS! CONGRATULATIONS!" The women screamed in unison as the men shared amused glances amongst themselves.

"I guess you _were_ having fun with him after all. Just not the kind of fun I guessed at first..." Stella teased.

"Stella, behave!" Aisha reprimanded her friend good naturedly.

"I'm happy for you! When you found love with him again after your divorce from Roy, I was one of the happiest people in all the realms for you! Everyone needs someone to love them and I like Alexandre. He's a good guy! He and his son Franklin aren't anything like Cassandra and Chimera anyway so that makes it even better! So, when's the little Prince or Princess due?" Stella asked eagerly.

"Stella, give her time to breathe!" Bloom exclaimed.

"Thanks, Bloom. This little boy or girl is due to get here in April, since I'm already two months in. I didn't even realize I was pregnant until last week, what with how busy I've been recently..." Aisha beamed.

"It's mid-September now so..." Stella proceeded to count the months out on her fingers. "...seven months! You've got seven months to design a royal nursery for the little guy or girl! Any ideas?" Stella conjured up a notepad and feather pen.

"Stella, I know you're happy for Aisha. We all are. But please curb your enthusiasm. You know what happens when you get too excited..." Brandon put a hand on his wife's shoulder.

"Yeah. You do tend to get a bit carried away even now, Stella..." Musa pointed out.

Stella shrugged.

"So have you told Kaila and Amira yet? And what about Alexandre's son? Does he know?" Timmy asked.

"Oh yes. We pulled the girls from their school for the day and managed to bring in Franklin on a conference call from Oskuria College. They all seem happy about it and Amira was particularly vocal in her excitement." Aisha chuckled at the memory.

"Your twins seem to have reversed personalities or something. Kaila's a rather... cynical, sarcastic and somewhat pessimistic fairy and Amira is the total opposite for the usual witch. Always seems to be happy and laughing and optimistic..." Bloom said.

"That's them alright. Wouldn't have my girls any other way." Aisha smiled.

Seeing the women engrossed in discussion about babies, children in general and their own experiences in being mothers, Brandon took the men away to find something else to do.

"So fellows, fancy a ride on the motorbikes?" He asked.

"Of course. Why would I ever say no to that? I bet I'd still beat you after all this time. I haven't been slouching off, what with me having to be at the top of my game shaping up Red Fountain graduates after all..." Riven said.

"Oh, is that a challenge?" Sky asked, sounding amused.

"It's a promise, Sky." Riven smirked.

"You're on!"

A few minutes later, the women had found their way to another part of the royal palace grounds and were walking through it chatting happily when they heard the loud sounds of engines above them and when they looked up, it was to see most of their husbands racing in the air on motorbikes and whooping loudly.

"Boys and their toys..." Mirta chuckled.

"You got that right, Mirta..." Flora said as her eyes followed Helia's bike in the sky.

* * *

Zara sat in the dining hall, munching on her bowl of cereal quietly. The other two girls in her dorm were Freshmen so they had different schedules to hers, she being in the Sophomore year, plus Allegra's friend Juniper was a Senior so she wouldn't be seeing her in classes either.

After she ate, she made her way down to the library, where she immediately headed for the Modern History section.

She finally found what she was looking for- _A History of Modern Conflicts_ by Alice Angelucci.

Before she sat to read, she also decided to head for the Biographies section where she picked up a book called _Inside the Winx Club_ by Nova Soleril.

She found herself a nice, secluded section in the library and began to read.

These books certainly helped fill in certain spots about the Winx Club that her mother never told her about. Why exactly, she wasn't sure. She was told about how her mum came to be on Earth in the first place in a rather blunt, non-sugar-coated way that she appreciated, but she never really knew too much about the people that helped along the process- the Winx Club. It was always important to know the story from both sides so you could get a balanced, clearer picture, after all.

Her mum did seem to get a clearer perspective on things over the years and got rid of her own biases for the most part, but she was only human, really. Or rather, an ordinary fairy. In some ways, Zara couldn't really blame her.

Zara checked her watch and found that it would be soon time to attend her own first class for the day.

Carrying the books over the Circulation Desk which she intended to read in full later, she made up her mind to catch up on the past from as many different sources and perspectives as possible.

* * *

"_Fairy Flight Training._ I can't wait! I l_ove_ flying!" Allegra cheered as she, Juniper and Neima walked down the corridors, making their way outside.

"You two will love it! Just gazing down below from way up high, feeling the wind beneath your wings… It's just such a wonderful feeling!" Juniper agreed.

"What about you, Neima? Don't you think flying is wonderful?" Allegra asked.

"Yeah… It sure is…" Neima chuckled nervously as the other two fairies talked excitedly.

They got into the courtyard, walked through the winged gates and through the forest to a clearing where some other fairies stood, already transformed.

"Alright then. You two get ready for class. I have a free period which I intend to use to go catch up on some homework. I'll see you around!" Juniper waved as she walked away.

"Well, Neima, you heard her... Let's go!" Allegra pumped her fist into the air as she began to transform.

Ribbons of light with various colours wrapped themselves around Allegra's arms as she stretched them outwards to her sides and flowed around her body, forming black wrist-length sleeves as they went. Wrapped around her chest, they also formed a grey sleeveless mid-riff shirt to attach to the sleeves. The ribbons wrapped around her legs individually, forming black ankle-length leggings and spun rapidly around her legs to form a grey ankle-length skirt with high splits at the sides. She did a leap into the air with both legs outstretched and ribbons surrounded her bare feet, forming grey high-heeled ankle boots. The ribbons of light travelled up to her now straight hair, putting it into two high ponytails with black baubles. Rainbow coloured energy twisted and bent around her back, attaching and forming wings that looked just as her mother's base form wings did.

Neima's hair was pulled into a high ponytail with a brown ponytail band, leaving bangs loose to frame her face when sound waves wrapped themselves around her hair. They criss-crossed over her chest to form a white and brown blouse that showed off her stomach. Dark brown mini-shorts with a white ribbon tied around the waist and forming a bow in the front appeared when the sound waves fit together like a puzzle around her legs and faded away. She did a cartwheel and dark brown, knee-high combat boots appeared on her feet. Music notes criss-crossed on the front of the boots, forming white laces. When she snapped her fingers, dark brown wrist-length fingerless gloves appeared on her hands. Dragonfly wings sprouted from her back and flapped slightly.

"Alright girls. Listen up…" Griselda walked into the clearing a few minutes after they had transformed.

"Flying may seem like a natural thing and it is indeed natural to fairies, but there are different ways you will have to fly in different situations. Flying casually is very different to flying a complicated flight path or flying when you're being chased by an enemy. That's what this class is about. Later on in your Alfea career, you will take a different version of this class _if _you get your Enchantix since those wings will be very different from your current ones…"

The girls looked at one another nervously. However, Neima looked absolutely petrified.

"Now, for this class, we'll just be measuring how steady you are on your wings. Obstacle courses and more complicated flight paths will come later on." Griselda said, checking her clipboard.

Neima gulped.

"We'll be going in alphabetical order so first up: Abigail!"

A tall girl with sleek black hair, a sky blue outfit and triangular wings stepped forward, floated for a few seconds and then flew as high into the sky as she could. She did a couple of twists and turns before coming in for a smooth landing.

The all clapped politely as Abigail stepped off to a side.

A few other names were called before Allegra went, taking off like a speeding bullet, zigzagging through the trees almost as if they weren't even there and flying low enough over the crowd of Freshman fairies to ruffle their hair in the backdraft.

Neima was practically sweating bullets as Griselda continued down the list.

A few more names were called and… oh Great Dragon. It was her turn…

Neima stepped forward nervously and after a few moments of hesitation, she took to the sky.

She barely flew over the tops of the trees, attempted no complicated moves and even while trying to fly in a straight line looked unsteady.

When she landed, she looked as pale as a ghost and felt clammy.

"Neima, are you alright? Perhaps you should go see Nurse Ofelia…" Griselda asked, looking slightly concerned.

"No, No, Miss Griselda I'll be fine soon…" Neima insisted.

"Uh-huh…" Griselda didn't look convinced, but continued onto the next fairy.

When the class was over, Neima and Allegra walked behind the rest of the fairies, still in their fairy forms.

"Okay, Neima. What's up with you? You seemed okay until it was your turn to go. What was it? Stage fright from being in front of all of us?" Allegra asked. "It's totally not like you! Are you sure you're okay? Perhaps we _should_ take you to see Nurse Ofelia…" She put a hand on Neima's shoulder.

"No, not that. It's just… it's just… I'm kinda afraid of heights… There, I said it! I don't like heights! I'm a fairy who's actually afraid of heights!" Neima burst out into a kind of embarrassed tears.

Allegra froze, remaining silent for several seconds.

"But… you're a fairy! Fairies have wings and are _meant_ to use those wings to fly! How the hell could you actually be afraid of heights?" Allegra asked in shock, before bursting out into giggles. "I'm sorry Neima, but I find this rather amusing. A fairy afraid of heights! Ahahahaha!" She doubled over in laughter as Neima glared at her.

"It is _not _funny, Allegra!"

"Actually, it is!" Allegra laughed even more.

"It is _not _funny at all, Allegra! I hate heights and I have hated heights for as long as I can remember! Mom says it's because she wasn't keeping an eye on me like she should have and I kind of fell out a window that was really, really high when I was two…" Neima felt herself reddening.

"Luckily she managed to transform and fly down to catch me before I hit the ground, but the damage had already been done…" She shuddered.

"I'm sorry for laughing. I really do understand how that could traumatize a little kid and scar you for life…" Allegra hugged her.

"I forgive you. Just don't tell anybody else about it. I really don't need people laughing at me…" Neima glared at her slightly and Allegra had the sense to feel ashamed.

"Gotcha! But… You need to overcome that fear to be the best fairy you can be… So…" Allegra hand a mischievous smile on her face.

"What are you…?" Her face dawned in realization. "Oh no. No, no, no… NO!"

* * *

The two of them walked into the dorm later, now in their civilian forms.

"I really,_ really_ hate you, you know…" Neima grumbled, the only one of the pair to have twigs and leaves in her hair and scratches on her face.

Zara, seated in a chair by the window, lowered the copy of _A History of Modern Conflicts_ that she was reading and looked at Neima with a surprised expression.

"What the bloody hell did Allegra do to you, Neima?" Zara asked.

"My flying is a little… _unsteady_ so this clown here volunteered to help me out. Instead, she helped drop me into a tree. A big, scratchy tree." Neima glared at Allegra standing next to her with a sheepish expressions on her face.

"Do you need some Antiseptic Potion for those cuts? This was one of the two potions I had to brew for Potions class today…" Zara offered.

"Sure, but what was the other potion?" Neima asked curiously.

"Anti-Sickness Potion. Cures several mild to moderate illness. Got an A on both. Studying regular old Chemistry on Earth before I went to fairy school helped with my potions skills I suppose…" Zara led Neima over into their room just as Barbara darted into the room, her mistress close behind who decided to pop in just then for a visit.

* * *

Back in Magix City, Noémie walked into a warehouse near the end of city limits.

Six men, each holding boxes about the size of their entire torsos awaited her.

"Well, do you have the merchandise that was requested?" She asked coolly with only a hint of her natural French accent.

"Oh yes. We do…" One of them spoke.

"Good. Open the boxes do that I can see their contents properly. Can't be too careful in this field of work, after all…"

"Ah yes. I agree…" The same man who spoke earlier said smoothly, snapping his fingers.

The boxes floated slightly, landed at Noémie's feet and opened, revealing several magic guns.

Noémie picked up one, held it in both of her hands as she inspected it carefully, held it over the heads of the men in her right hand and pulled the trigger, watching as it put a smoking hole straight through the wall.

"Ah. So they are the real thing but… what's this?" Noémie swept a small silver device over the boxes.

"Were you trying to double cross me? I do not like being double crossed…" She asked coolly, letting anger seep into her voice slightly.

"What do you mean?" The man asked.

"Not the required amount that was ordered. This little device tells me…" Noémie twirled it. "I guess that you do not want this, do you?" She held up a thin, plastic gold and black card.

"Your little device is wrong!" The man insisted.

"It most certainly is not. I saw it made myself. Nothing went wrong in the process." Noémie tensed as she saw movement among the men.

When the first shot was fired, Noémie ducked and shapeshifted into what looked like a black Sabre-toothed tiger with dark magenta fur on top of its head.

Several shots fired at her but bounced off a dark green energy shield that sprung up around her suddenly.

Something silver glinted around her front right paw as she sauntered forward.

"It ees nevair wise to try to mess with me and mine. _Especially_ with theengs like zis." Her voice sounded slightly lower while in another form and her accent tended to get thicker when experiencing a negative emotion.

Such as the anger she felt now.

She pounced, knocking one man to the ground, raised a large, long-clawed paw and brought it down.

* * *

Noémie stepped outside the building, tucking one last shrunken box as well as the guns of them men who tried attacking her into a black shoulder bag.

Holding a simple red-orange orb the size of an ordinary marble that she pulled from her pocket, she threw it through the warehouse window.

Once she reached the nearest main road, she snapped her fingers and the building exploded and went up in flames that raked the night sky.

Smirking as she casually walked down the road, her only thoughts were that she wouldn't be cheated by them anymore…


	4. Chapter 4

"Well, damn…"

Joanna put down her tablet that she'd been reading as she sat eating breakfast at a table somewhere in the middle level of Cloud Tower's cafeteria with Eleanor.

"What happened?" Eleanor asked.

"Someone burnt down a warehouse on the edge of town and six bodies were found inside, all charred beyond recognition. I enjoy a good fire, but if it gets anyone hurt that _doesn't _deserve it… I do have my limits, after all…" Joanna frowned.

"I didn't know you knew what limits _were,_ Joanna…" Eleanor said, munching on some toast with strawberry jam. "But yes, I guess that I see what you mean – though your definition of "who deserves it" tends to vary. Plus how do we know that someone burnt the warehouse down? How do we know it wasn't something else? The article doesn't say…"

"I just get this strange feeling about it…" Joanna frowned.

At that moment, Miss Griffin entered the dining hall and the crowds of young witches sitting there went silent gradually as the Headmistress strode further inside.

"Witches of Cloud Tower: I come to you this morning to issue a challenge. A Witching Skills Challenge."

Whispers broke out in the hall but Miss Griffin silenced them merely by raising a single hand.

"Students of all levels within this school will be able to compete in several different contests within different categories and subjects. Some prizes for this contest include high grades and extra credits in whatever subject areas you use in the different challenges."

Excited chatter broke out amongst the students.

"Now my fellow witches, I hope to see many of you competing in this- and may the best witches win!"

Cheers and claps broke out loudly at this as the Head Witch turned and left the hall.

"I hope there's a Duelling Skill challenge. I love a good fight, _especially_ when I'm in it." Joanna grinned a grin that most people would be terrified at, but Eleanor didn't bat an eye. "And you know what would be even better? If I kicked Hectate's ass in it and got an A for school in the process!"

"Seriously, Joanna. What is it with you and fighting Hectate all the time?" Eleanor asked.

"It's _fun!_" Joanna exclaimed.

"You know, I _could_ try Potions or Hexes and Curses maybe... Those are my favourite fields of study so far. Arithmancy is up there too, but I don't really know how you could use Arithmancy in a contest context really, unless it's a contest to see who could work the equations out properly the fastest. Which would be extremely lame..." Eleanor thought aloud.

"I'm sure that there'll be something for everyone, including us. Now, I have a Magical History class to get to…" Joanna stood up, pressed a button in the centre of the table, grabbed her things and stepped into the mini energy dome that acted as an elevator between levels.

* * *

"Did you all hear the story that everyone's talking about?" Juniper asked Neima and Allegra as they walked to lunch in Alfea's dining hall.

"There are many stories floating around out there. Which one of those stories are you talking about, Juniper?" Allegra asked.

"The one about the warehouse burning down at the edge of the city limits. You know, with all those bodies inside!" Juniper exclaimed.

"_All those bodies?_ There were only six bodies in there…" Allegra said.

"_Only_ six bodies? _Only? Onl_y indeed... How often do you hear about fires like that in Magix nowadays, furthermore fires that kill that many people at one time?" Neima asked through mouthfuls of salad.

"This topic has gone through the school like wildfire today- if you'll pardon the pun. Zara told me this morning when we passed through the halls on our way to classes. She told me that the Sophomores were discussing it in one study group, just like me and the other Seniors were…" Juniper said.

"Something doesn't feel right about it at all. But what do I know? I'm not a law enforcement officer. It could be an accident or it could be deliberate. I wouldn't be the one to tell you…" Neima shrugged.

"Yeah… Let's move on to a much more cheerful, less gruesome topic, shall we?" Allegra requested.

They all agreed and moved on to something much more pleasant: food.

* * *

Unfortunately for her, Guardian Fairy Khadija could not just switch off to a more pleasant topic.

She was currently in a meeting with several other law enforcement personnel in Magix City.

Apparently they had tentatively identified some of the bodies from the warehouse fire already- even with magic technology, it was amazing since they were so badly burnt- and one of them was a citizen of her home realm of Zymentar so the head Guardian Fairy Liani had called her during her vacation to Magix City where she was planning to visit her daughter at Alfea.

This interruption to her vacation was not welcome at all as she sat at the long table with others, examining photos and documents.

"As you all should have guessed, we are all here because of the suspicious circumstances surrounding what happened in the old Jahira warehouse on the edge of this city's limits. We need to find out what happened there, why and if there was any… _illegal_ activity that was going on at the time there…" The Mayor of Magix City spoke up. He was not normally present at these initial meetings when an event like this occurred; he for some reason had taken a special interest in this one.

"So what has been found out so far?" Khadija asked.

"Well the two victims identified so far are Nikos Diaterre from your home planet of Zymentar and one that we believe is connected to Yoshinoya's family- Yohan Marcolei- his son-in-law. We are doing our checks to make absolutely sure that it is him since you know what this potential bombshell could do to the public…" The head Guardian Fairy of Magix itself- Aviana- flicked blue hair out of her face as she addressed Khadija specifically.

People shared glances with several varied expressions conveyed.

"If it _is _him, Yoshinoya will emerge from whatever hole he's been hiding in all these years for revenge- if he is still alive, that is-_ and _if this turns out to be a homicide…" The Mayor said.

"So… Who's making the trip to Eraklyon to tell King Sky and his security about this potential situation?" Khadija asked.

"You are." The Chief of Police said, finally speaking up.

"With all due respect Chief, why me?" Khadija wondered.

"Didn't you go to school with Queen Bloom? Maybe you could have a rapport with them because of it!"

"I might have been in the same year as Queen Bloom, but we never even spoke two words to one another, far less were actual friends. You're not going to get a rapport between us just because we both attended Alfea College at the same time…" Khadija rolled her eyes.

"Either way, you're going to Eraklyon once it's been confirmed that it _is_ indeed Yohan Marcolei…" Police Chief spoke again.

"And who exactly decided this?" Khadija folded her arms.

"Who's in favour of Guardian Fairy Khadija going to Eraklyon?" The Mayor asked.

Everyone except Khadija herself raised their hands.

"Way to ruin my vacation guys. Thanks. I suppose in this kind of work vacations tend to be ruined pretty often for anyone…" Khadija went stone faced.

"Now, if that's all from me, I promised my daughter Abigail that I would take her out to dinner and that is a promise I intend to keep." Khadija stood up.

"Very well. Go. But we need you to be back here tomorrow early…" Aviana handed her an exit pass for the building.

* * *

"So what did your mom tell you?"

Several girls were crowded around Abigail in the student lounge, Neima leading the interrogation.

"I can't tell you a lot. Mom's lips are sealed when it comes to the finer details of the case! All I can say is that one of the bodies has been identified as someone from my home realm and another body has a tentative identification on it, but that's it!" Abigail insisted, holding her hands up.

"Fine. Lay off, peeps! This source ain't got no more info!" Neima and Juniper waved everyone else off.

"Yeah. Sorry about that one, Abigail. I know about the whole Guardian Fairy for a mom shtick too…" Neima shrugged.

"Well, when you're anxious for a scoop, you don't usually let anyone stop you… Now if you'll excuse me, I have some homework to go do..." Abigail got up and left the room.

"We should probably go do ours too…" Neima led the way back up to their dorm.

They found Allegra practicing some illusion spells that Barbara was sitting in a chair watching fascinatedly and Zara was nowhere to be seen.

"Hey Allegra! Where's Zara?" Juniper asked as she picked up her cat to take her back to her own dorm.

"She went into the city. Said she needed some new dance clothes or something like that…" Allegra shrugged, breaking her illusions.

"Oh, she's a dancer too? I mean, I can't sing as well as my mom can but I'm a pretty decent dancer. I wonder what kind of dances she could teach me from Earth…" Neima wondered.

"You'll have to ask her when she gets back then, won't you? I couldn't do that whole dancing thing. I can be a real klutz sometimes…"

Allegra got up from her chair and promptly managed to trip over her own feet.

* * *

Zara had managed to find everything she wanted and was pretty happy about it.

Leotards, tights, leggings, a few shirts and skirts... Everything she could want, she had found.

Some of them could even be worn in other combinations when she wasn't dancing so they were _definitely_ good buys.

Even though her mother was a designer, she did like to vary her clothing choices and didn't like to ask her every time she needed a new outfit for whatever occasion so shopping on her own was nice for a change.

Now to look about getting back to Alfea in time for dinner…

She was almost to the door of the elevator when she was knocked over by someone.

"You know, I am getting sick of getting knocked over by people…" Zara grumbled.

"Sorry about that… Allow me to help you up…" A male voice said.

"Gladly." Zara held her hands out and was pulled up.

She looked around. "Well at least my stuff stayed inside its bags…" She waved her hands and the bags floated back into her outstretched hands.

"Yeah, sorry about that again. My name is Lewis and you are?" Zara took in the sight of a tall, muscled young man with messy red hair and dark blue eyes.

Hm. She _definitely_ liked what she saw...

"I'm Zara. You're Crown Prince of Domino, aren't you? I met Princess Joanna before…"

"Oh so you're _that _Zara. Joanna told Ross and I all about that practically the moment she got back to Cloud Tower…" Lewis chuckled.

"Why were you running anyway?" Zara raised an eyebrow.

"I wasn't running. I was walking briskly. I got here with my roommates which includes a certain Prince Arthur of Solaria…"

"Ah…" Zara nodded in understanding. "Is he really as obnoxious as some sources claim?"

"Not all the time, but he _can_ be. He really can be an okay guy every once in a while, but most of the time he just really, _really _annoys me…"

"I guess I can understand that. But if you'll excuse me, I plan on getting back to Alfea for dinner. The nosh is actually pretty good there…"

"Goodbye then. I suppose I'll see you again if it's meant to be…" Lewis waved as he and Zara parted ways.

* * *

"And that's the details of what we know, Your Majesties. Summary of the facts: the warehouse exploded according to witnesses on the main road at around 11:27 PM that night, there were six bodies discovered, one of them being the son in law of your enemy Yoshinoya, who tried leading an uprising against you fifteen years ago..." Khadija sat across the table from King Sky and Queen Bloom, a steely expression adorning her face.

"Thank you for coming to tell us in person, Lady Khadija. We don't know for certain if it is indeed him starting up things after all these years, but we do appreciate you telling us this." Sky said.

"No problem. My planet upgraded their security warnings to Level 2 after this, but at least it's nowhere near level five, our highest. Unlike your world, ours is a generally peaceful one." Khadija answered.

"I sure hope it remains that way..." Bloom said fervently.

"Me too..." Sky agreed.

"So do I. I really hope this doesn't upset the balance too much. We haven't had much disturbances since we graduated from Alfea, Queen Bloom. No offense to you, but you always seemed to bring trouble with you everywhere you went." Khadija remarked wryly.

"Not like I could help it..." Bloom shrugged.

"I guess one good thing about that was that I managed to get my Enchantix when Mandragora came to Alfea looking for you after you graduated a year early and decided to come visit..." Khadija waited for the King and Queen of Eraklyon to stand up before she did as well.

"Well then, Lady Khadija. It was nice to speak to you, though the circumstances really could have been better..." Sky shook Khadija's hand firmly.

"Perhaps the next time we meet, it will be under more pleasant circumstances. Guardian Liani has mentioned King Joaquin having an interest in starting trade talks with you..." Khadija accepted a handshake from Bloom as well.

"I must leave now. I have other obligations back home to attend to. Busy, busy, busy. And I thought schoolwork at Alfea was hard..." Khadija and Bloom chuckled amusedly.

"Indeed. We wish you a good trip, Lady Khadija and we look forward to those trade talks you mentioned." Bloom said as Khadija turned away from them to be escorted back to her ship outside by an Eraklyonese security guard.

"I'm not really looking forward to those talks at all. Trade talks are some of the most boring parts of being a King. Still, I know that it could bring much wealth and products for us both so that's the only thing I'm looking forward to..." Sky said as they watched Khadija's ship take off through a window.

"And I'm hoping that that business with Yohan Marcolei isn't really Yoshinoya starting something up again. I rather much enjoyed the peaceful interlude we had for the most part after we left school..." Bloom sighed.

* * *

"They really are chatting this up, aren't they?" Tecna looked at the copy of Magix Daily that Noémie had brought her. "Are you absolutely certain that they will not trace things back to you? That your tracks are covered properly? I don't feel in the mood to fight any kind of law enforcement officers – though I _could_ beat them if it came to that of course…"

"I am certain that I covered my tracks well, mother. They may be able to tell that a crime was committed, but not _who _committed it." Noémie smirked. "I only killed them because they tried to kill me first…"

"You had _better _be certain. You mustn't be as overly cocky and arrogant as your father was. That was what led to his untimely demise. Remember that, Noémie." Tecna said seriously.

"I will, mother. I shall not make ze same mistakes he did." Noémie nodded.

"You had _better_ not…" Tecna narrowed her eyes at her daughter.

"Anyway, I really ought to give you a little refresher course on the History of the Magical Dimension and this seems like the perfect time to do so…" Tecna clapped her hands and they were teleported from the library to a room filled with some of the latest magical technology.

"I have told you many stories about many different known realms and planets in them. Those realms also have many treasures that they call their own…" Tecna gave a brief history of the magical dimensions and several of the worlds contained within.

"Are you going to organize some plot to take any of these treasures?" Noémie questioned.

"I do not think so, Noémie. Stealing powers and treasures of different realms is such a typical move of villains I'm fought over the years… I don't want to be typical since those opponents were all defeated. I want to remain undefeated… Plus why would I need to take them? Power? I'm very powerful already. Money? I have so much more of it than most people would know what to do with. What I want you to do is a little… research and that will teach you that you should be especially careful when in the Magical Dimension. You may be an adult now, but I still want you to be careful whenever you're there!"

"Research? Very well. I can do that. I will get to it. I understand your logic. Is there anything else you would like me to do before I head out to Downtown Paris?" Noémie asked.

"Yes. The Institute of Magic is having a gala in a few weeks where magicals and non-magicals will mix in order to celebrate their twenty-fifth anniversary. I have purchased you a ticket. I will not be attending for obvious reasons, but you most certainly can. Mix and mingle, learn what you can. Make whatever connections you can that will benefit us in the future."

"I will certainly have a good time with that. I love the… _people _element of things, so to speak…" Noémie nodded, smiling.

"As long as you understand what is to be done and you do not forget your true goals…" Tecna nodded, dismissing her daughter.

Once she was gone, Tecna turned her attention to all of the technology in the room, a smile forming on her face as she did so.

"All of these, created with my own hands and magic. I really could have made quite a bit of money with this even back in Magix. I even understand that Timmy is doing something similar with his own skills. I am not surprised in the slightest." Tecna chuckled amusedly.

"Anyway, this fairy has some work to do, so…" She raised her hands, glowed slightly and the machines sprang to life.

"Not even back home could they ever accomplish what I have here. And my daughter is pretty accomplished herself. Always at the top of her class, just like her mother…" Tecna smiled.

"She had better be at the top of her class with what I have told her to do. I don't want her off doing some stupidity. She must be fully aware of what magic can really do and the consequences of such. I do not want her ending up meeting the same fate as her father..."


	5. Chapter 5

Noémie arrived at the Institute of Magic's gala with an extremely bored expression on her face.

She had changed her hair to lilac and put it into a wavy ponytail for the occasion and ditched her multiple piercings in favour of simple, silver, star-shaped earrings. Her usual dark coloured clothing was traded in for a red and black knee-length, long-sleeved, high-necked form-fitting dress and black, open-toed ankle boots, letting her fit in, but still retain her edge.

"Name, origin, powers?" The security agent at the entrance asked her.

"Noémie Bardot, French national (Parisienne to be exact) and I am a shapeshifter." She answered smoothly.

"Is that your natural/default appearance?" The security fairy switched to French, raising an eyebrow.

"Except for the colour of my hair, yes it is." Noémie switched it briefly back to dark magenta.

"Very well. Enjoy your evening, Mademoiselle Bardot…" The security agent waved a magic scanner over her and smiled, apparently satisfied with the reading.

"_Merci._" Noémie strode into the building that straddled the border between the rest of Earth and the Queendom of Tir Nan Og.

She looked around the grand hall and saw that the event was already in full swing.

Fairies, witches and all sorts of other magicals from Earth and other planets were there, as well as several non-magical beings. They were all mixing together and seemed to be having a pretty good time.

Looking towards the stage, she saw Queen Nebula, former Queen Morgana and her husband Rick all sitting together laughing while Princess Roxy, her husband Andy and Princess Melisande, the eleven year old daughter of Roxy and Andy were seated with the teachers of the Institute engaging in what looked like an intense, but amicable debate.

Hm. Roxy. The fairy that her father had tried and failed to catch, dying in the process while his fellow Wizards of the Black Circle were imprisoned somewhere in the Omega Dimension. Her father would not have perished if it wasn't for this entire Queendom…

Still, she wasn't here to take revenge for an event which took place before her birth. Her mother could take care of that if she desired. No… That was not the objective here this evening at all…

"Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you're enjoying yourselves tonight here…" Roxy stepped up to the microphone, a big smile on her face.

"_Bah." _Noémie rolled her eyes.

"I would like to introduce some great friends of mine. They helped find me when I was the only fairy left on Earth, defended me from the Wizards of the Black Circle and freed the Earth Fairies so we could once again walk this planet freely!"

"Whatever…" Noémie rolled her eyes again.

The people around her cheered.

"I welcome… The Winx Club!" Roxy cheered and the applause in the room soared to deafening levels as Bloom, Flora, Stella, Aisha and Musa entered the room and made their way onto the stage.

"_Humph. There ees just one theeng wrong with zis picture. What ees it? Oh yes. My maman is missing from zis!"_ Noémie thought.

"I want you all to continue having a great time tonight!" Roxy said as she returned to her seat and the Winx Club members present sat at the table with her which had magically expanded to accommodate them.

She shook it off and walked amongst the crowd.

Looking to her right, she saw a vaguely familiar face… the girl from that fight in Magix- the British fairy- talking to a blond couple that Noémie guessed could only be her parents.

"_So… She's an Institute of Magic girl, huh? She must be at Alfea on an exchange then…"_ Noémie filed away that bit of information.

"Is Alfea okay for you Zara? Are the classes good? Your roommates are still okay?" The mother asked.

"Yes, mum. I prefer the Institute of Magic, but Alfea is okay. The classes are interesting and my roommates are still okay, believe it or not. Speaking of roommates and believing, you'll never believe who I ended up sharing a flat with!" Zara exclaimed.

"Who?" The mother asked.

"Musa's daughter and Professor Juvinall's daughter- who happens to be a good friend of Flora! Plus Flora's daughter is a senior, but she stops into visit Professor Juvinall's daughter pretty often!"

"Wait, you're rooming with some Winx Club daughters? Do they know that I'm your mum?" The woman asked, frowning.

"I haven't told anyone there about you. Only the administration knows about you and they obviously have not been telling any tales. Besides, even if people _were _to find out that the disinherited, exiled Princess of Isis was my mum, what could they do to me? Try to make my life harder? I'd fight back. If someone figured it out, I probably would not deny it though…" Zara shrugged.

"Well, you should know what's best. We remain concerned for you is all…" Her father shrugged.

So, this Zara girl was Diaspro's daughter?

Noémie looked between the two females. She could spot the resemblance indeed…

"_That's a good bit of information right there. How could I work zat to my advantage though?"_ She wondered.

"HEY Z!"

Three people ran up to Zara, two of them male twins who looked slightly younger than her and the other a pre-teen girl, all with blond hair.

"Hey yourselves! How are my favourite siblings doing?" Zara ruffled the younger girl's hair.

"Pretty good, actually. I still can't get used to you being in Magix for so long instead of being here so we can just hop over on the weekends for mum's guest lectures…" The younger girl said.

"Yes. Because it is so much _fun_ being lectured by mum at school as well as at home…" Zara rolled her eyes. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go see if Keiko, Arianne, Sanat or Janae are around. I haven't seen them in bloody _weeks…_"

Noémie tuned out their conversation as she moved elsewhere in the room.

"Professor MacAdams, what was it like for you after you found out that you were a fairy?" A non-magical woman with a light Southern accent asked an olive-skinned woman with dark hair and eyes. "I mean, my little girl doesn't know anyone magical and she's rather terrified at the thought of her having magic of any kind!"

"To be honest with you, I was terrified myself at times when I found out that I was a fairy, _especially_ when the Apprentices were around. However with the right support system like I had, she should be able to make it as a great fairy. Where are you from?" Professor MacAdams asked.

"Arkansas. Little Rock to be exact…" The worried mother answered.

"Ah. My sister-in-law is supposed to be around that area next week. Hold on…" She looked around the room and her dark eyes set on a blonde woman hanging around with identical triplet, dark-haired boys and an older blond man, laughing.

"Avalon! Come over here please and stop telling inappropriate jokes to my boys! Arthur…" Professor MacAdams narrowed her eyes at them.

"Sorry Saf, dear…" Arthur shrugged apologetically as his sister walked briskly over.

"I'm here now. What do you need?" Avalon glanced between Safeyah and the woman.

"You're going to be around Little Rock next week, aren't you? Well this lady here has a daughter who just found out that she has fairy magic, but the girl is apparently terrified, so…"

"Say no more. Ma'am, if you'd like to give me some contact details, maybe we can set up an appropriate time for me to meet her?" Avalon conjured her phone.

"Oh thank you. Thank you both! Shelby will feel so much better if someone could come talk to her about it!" The woman breathed a sigh of relief.

"_Meh. Boring…"_ Noémie moved off, bored once again.

She saw Diaspro now talking to two other women around her age, one with pale skin and auburn hair cut into a slanted bob and the other with an olive skin tone and her black hair pulled up into a chignon talking amicably.

Zinah Sharif and Helen Howell-Evans, the two women that Diaspro had gotten famous on Earth for helping to save from a kidnapping. One a witch and the other a fairy...

She found herself close to the stage where some members of the official parties that had been there earlier were now mingling with the crowd, leaving behind a few empty seats.

She took a seat as close as she could get to the stage and morphed her ears into a pointed pair which could hear even better, hidden behind her lilac hair.

"Sky has been wary ever since that incident in Magix that lead to Khadija coming to visit us on Eraklyon. He's worried that it could be the rumblings of someone in Yoshinoya's clan or Yoshinoya himself starting something again after all these years…" Bloom said.

"But why now, after all this time? And didn't Sky lead his people to victory in that last war in a no room left for doubt sort of way?" Roxy asked.

"Hold on though. Yohan Marcolei was _killed. _He was _not_ the one doing the killing surprisingly enough. Why was he killed if it was Yoshinoya plotting something?" Aisha wondered.

"Internal conflicts maybe? Perhaps they're not attempting to start another conflict with Eraklyon on their own but having major issues within their group. However, that then raises the question of why Yohan Marcolei was present in that building in Magix. Why was he there? Something is obviously not right with that picture, but what is it exactly?" Stella asked.

Noémie chuckled quietly to herself. They thought _Yoshinoya_ was trying to start something again? How far off could they possibly be? _"It was simply a business deal gone horribly wrong. Horribly wrong for dear old Yohan Marcolei, that is…" _She thought, smiling.

"Can we just focus on something more pleasant please? I have had enough of dealing with these security issues and related matters all week…" Flora took a sip of her fruity looking drink.

"Indeed. What about our children?" Aisha eyes her twin girls Kaila and Amira, who were currently chatting up Melisande and a few other girls they had found, including the blonde younger girl that Zara had called her sister.

"Not a pleasant topic for me. How about the men in our lives? Now _that_ is a pleasant topic." Stella beamed.

The other women laughed.

"Different, but yet still the same even after all these years…" Musa chuckled.

"Suzanne!" They heard a male voice call out to the group of girls.

"Yes, daddy?" The blonde girl answered.

"Come over here. Your mum wants you to meet some people!"

"Coming!" The girl ran over, unhampered by the long, pink dress she was wearing.

Noémie watched Bloom's eyes as they followed the girl and saw who her mother was.

The French shapeshifter watched the cogs turning in Bloom's mind in recognition and…

"Roxy, why is Diaspro here?" Bloom's hand tightened on the glass of white wine that she was holding.

"Because she is a welcome citizen of Tir Nan Og as well as a part-time lecturer at the Institute of Magic- she does a very good job of that by the way- _and_ she helped us in our struggle against the Apprentices of the Black Circle, that's why. Why are you still so hung up about her?" Roxy raised an eyebrow at the redheaded fairy.

"Yeah. It's pretty silly to still be hung up over that after all this time. I mean, she's obviously moved on, putting all those incidents behind her and made a decent life for herself here on Earth. You should just let it go now. It's been over twenty five years!" Musa exclaimed.

"You're all right about this, but why can't I help it?" Bloom eyed Diaspro and her family over the side of her now empty glass.

"Issues. Deep-rooted issues. _Relax._ She's not going to do anything to you and you're not going to do anything to her." Flora said.

"And from what I hear from Diaspro, her daughter is doing well as an exchange student at Alfea and I've not heard any complaints about her there at all. She must be doing _something_ right in the parenting regard at least…" Roxy said.

"What's her name? The daughter I mean?" Stella asked.

"Zara. She's an okay girl. Keeps to herself a lot, but still has some friends…"

"Zara? My daughter- Neima- mentioned someone named that as her roommate who was an Earthling fairy. It has to be her…" Musa said.

"Probably is. Did Neima ever describe Zara to you?" Roxy asked.

"Yes and the description is spot on with the oldest girl I've seen with Diaspro this evening. She seems okay from what Neima says. Apparently she's a gifted potioneer who helped her out with a healing potion. I can't hold her parentage against her after that even if I wanted to…" Musa shrugged.

"That would mean that she's Allegra's roommate as well and I've heard no complaints from her or Juniper about Zara either…" Flora said.

Noémie got up and walked away at that point. All of them talking to each other so amicably and ignoring the fact that her mother wasn't present. Granted after twenty five years, they must be used to it, but _still._ They could talk about Diaspro but not Tecna? How could such an old friendship be _forgotten _so easily?

She took a deep breath and stepped aside outside to get some air.

Shapeshifting into a dark brown owl, she stretched her wings and took flight in an area of the courtyard that was deserted. Enjoying the gentle wind that ruffled her feathers, she began to think.

"_All of zis… These magicals and non magicals mixing like zis… My father wanted to put an end to all zis according to my mother. I wonder if eet was all even worth eet in ze end. And he did father me with a fairy, the same species zat he was working so hard to get rid of… My mother says their time together never really meant anything to her. To him. Zat it was just for the thrill of sleeping with the enemy. Indeed. If only there was a way to ask him about this. But the living cannot just ask questions of the dead, unless I actually do try to get hold of…"_

Noémie sensed the presence of a magical barrier blocking her way and so she turned around to fly back, landing gracefully and resuming her previous human form before going back inside.

By now, the party was in full swing. People were dancing and having a good time. Morgana and her husband were dancing, Roxy and Andy were dancing, Diaspro and her husband were dancing… Practically everyone was dancing in some way whether it was with a partner or not.

"I hate dancing. I really do…" A dark-haired man standing near to her muttered under his breath.

"So I am not the only one who hates zis place. That ees good to know…" Noémie said to him.

"Who the hell are you?" The young man asked tersely.

"I am Noémie; someone who would rather not be here, My mother thinks I should "socialize." I am almost twenty five years old and I still have to follow a lot of what she says. I see her reasons and most times I enjoy my task, but I am not particularly fond of parties such as zis." She grumbled.

"I am Rafe and I am a self-trained wizard. My grandmother thinks I should get to know more magical people since there are hardly any in my tiny town of Kimball, Nebraska. The woman moved back there from Seattle with me because "she thought small town life would be good for me." _Indeed..._" He said in disgust.

"Ah, zat was never a problem for me since I was born near to Paris, ze capital city of my native country of France… So are you non-magical born?" Noémie asked curiously.

"I am told that my mother was a fairy and my father was non magical. Apparently, it's a real sob story so I won't bore you with all the details…" Rafe dismissed it casually. "What about yourself?"

"My mother is a fairy and my father was a wizard." Noémie answered.

"_Was?_ What happened to your father?" Rafe asked curiously.

"My father is deceased. Eet happened before I was born so I never knew him and he never knew me. I guess I have what you call a sob story as well…" Noémie shrugged.

"Who knew that we would have so much in common, huh?" Rafe chuckled wryly.

"Indeed. I feel like I want to… as you Americans say… "blow zis joint"? I would like to go back to my hotel and drink all ze beer in ze mini fridge in my room. Zat would be fun. Much more fun zan I am having here now…" Noémie said.

"Where are you staying?" Rafe asked.

"The Ritz Carlton in Los Angeles. I plan on staying in ze United States for a while before I head back to Paris." Noémie said.

Rafe whistled. "That's quite a pretty penny. I guess that you must be rolling in riches. You don't seem like a lot of the rich bitches I have met in my travels at all…"

"Well thank you. I do pride myself on not being a common bitch." Noémie smirked.

Rafe looked her up and down. "I can see that. So are you teleporting back or driving? It is a three hour drive down there after all…"

"I am teleporting. I did not rent any car here and I did not feel like stealing one either." Noémie said.

"May I offer you a lift back? I will be staying in Los Angeles as well, though not in such a nice hotel as yours…" Rafe offered his hand to the French shapeshiter.

"You may indeed." Noémie allowed him to lead her outside.

* * *

"How do you like America anyway?" Rafe asked her the next day as they sat in a Starbucks café, dressed casually.

"I only like ze big cities. New York City, Miami, here in Los Angeles… Others as well, but I am not here to sightsee. I am here with a purpose." Noemie sipped on her iced coffee with milk.

"And that purpose would be..?" Rafe raised an eyebrow.

"How do I know zat you can be trusted?" Noémie raised an eyebrow right back.

"I get the feeling that you are destined for greatness and I want in on that." Rafe replied smoothly.

"Honest man, aren't we?" Noémie smirked.

"I tell no unnecessary lies." Rafe shrugged.

"Hmm…" Noémie studied him for a few moments.

"I think I shall tell you when we get somewhere more… _private…_" Noémie stood up and tossed her now empty coffee cup into a nearby bin as she stood up and Rafe followed suit.

A few minutes later, they were seated in the living room of Noémie's luxury suite, both with beers in hand.

"So… I made it into your room so quickly, huh?" Rafe waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

"Don't get so cocky with moi. I have no intention of doing anything like zat with you." Noémie glared at him.

"Funny choice of words there, Noémie…" Rafe continued to smirk, unfazed by the French shapeshifter's glare.

"Oh will you just shut ze hell up?" She tossed a cushion at him, which narrowly missed his head.

"Fine then. I apologise. Now, what was your purpose in coming to the United States?" Rafe got serious.

"You sound like the damn immigration officer at the airport…" Noémie muttered, but she noticed his change in demeanour and then answered accordingly.

"Mother thinks zat I have only come here to the United States to attend le Institute of Magic's twenty five year anniversary ball. Zat ees not true. It did not occur to me at first to really to put een a serious effort to find eet when I was 'ere, but you can say I had un moment of inspiration at ze gala. I 'ave 'eard of some very powerful spellbooks when I was growing up. There ees one zat I hear will be of particular use to my goals hovever: ze book zey call _The Tome of Mortality…_"

"_The Tome of Mortality?_ But I have heard that book is only a mere legend! How can you possibly acquire a book that you are not even sure actually exists? And it is not even a book from Earth since it was reportedly written by the Ancestral Witches!" Rafe exclaimed, his face somehow only showing a hint of surprise.

"It was rumoured stolen from ze Ancestral Witches. A rebel from within their group grew so horrified at ze spells contained within ze book as well as at ze supposedly horrible things the Ancestral Witches were doing, so he somehow managed to steal it from zem and brought it to Earth for a time, intending to destroy it. At least until loyalists to ze Ancestral Witches tracked him down and murdered him for his treachery. However ze Tome was never found…" Noémie explained.

"And you believe that this traitor guy brought the book here to Earth? To my home country?" Rafe raised an eyebrow.

"I do believe zat, yes…" Noémie nodded. "Now based on things I 'ave 'eard and seen during my research, I do believe zat the Tome of Mortality may be hidden somewhere een what you Americans call… "ze Mid-West?" The tone of her voice lifted slightly, inquisitive.

"No freaking way. That would happen to be the region that I live in. Most boring part of the United States ever. Nebraska is in the Mid-West… Any specific places though? The Mid-West is a pretty big place, after all…" Rafe said.

"Do you have a map? Of this country? Perhaps now that I am in the country itself, my tracker spell might work better…" Noémie said.

"No, but I can make one for you…" Rafe flicked his hand and a large, detailed political map of the United States appeared on the wall behind him.

"_Merci beaucoup."_ Noémie tapped the silver bracelet that adorned her right wrist twice and a green light surrounded the bracelet, before heading for the map, bathing the entire map in a green glow, before narrowing down to the Mid-West region, then to one particular town in one particular state.

"Holy crap. Seriously? _Seriously?_" Rafe asked in shock.

"Well, what are you waiting for? We have a plane to be on." Noémie said.

"Why a plane? Can't you just let me take you there?" Rafe teleported to the door and back to the chair he was seated in before to demonstrate.

"I can teleport too, might I remind you of zat? And also… why ze rush? I also like some non-magical theengs like airplane flights and we can take ze flight time to rest a bit. I shall modify my travel plans and yours so we can be in your _teeny leetle town_ by tomorrow evening at ze latest." Noemie smirked.

"I hardly consider that my _teeny leetle town._" Rafe mocked her accent. "I want to move as far away from Kimball as possible." He continued in disgust.

"Well, if you play along as Noémie's leetle helper, perhaps you shall be invited to my hometown for an extended stay…"

"Okay. Let's get packing, though you may want to tone down your appearance a bit…"

* * *

"I told you so. This town is the most boring place in the history of forever." Rafe said as they gazed at the city hall building boredly.

"I can tell zat just by looking around zis place. Paris is so much better zan zis leetle place…" An expression of disgust adorned the now blonde-haired, blue-eyed Noémie's face as she looked around at the native townspeople going about their business, though some stopped to stare at the pair, moving on only when she or Rafe turned to glare at them.

"Let's look for the Tome and quickly. I won't be able to stand this place much longer…" Rafe said.

"I agree with you on zat." Noémie replied as they began to walk down the streets.

They were about to walk past a building they would not have paid even the slightest attention to normally- were it not for the slight magical energy they felt radiating from inside.

"Larry's Bookstore, owned by Lawrence "Larry" Morrison. Never went in. Never cared to. Could it be…?" He looked at Noémie.

"We may as well go and see, shall we?" Noémie led the way in.

Inside was a rather old-fashioned looking place with wooden shelves filled with books organized by category, labelled with signs spelt out in carved wooden signs a different colour than the shelves themselves.

"And there's old man Larry himself…" Rafe inclined his head to the back counter, where an older gentleman sat, cleaning off his glasses.

Glancing up to see them, he smiled.

"Ah, hello there, young Raphael Prescott." He greeted them with a slight Southern drawl to his speech.

"Hello there yourself, Lawrence Morrison…" Rafe said casually.

"Who's your lady friend?" Mr Morrison asked.

"This is Noémie. She's from Paris, France. I met her in one of my travels and I invited her to come see Kimball with me."

"Welcome to Kimball, Miss Noémie. I don't think there'll be much in this little town that compares to Paris, but I hope you enjoy it here anyway…"

"_I weel enjoy my stay here even more when I find ze Tome of Mortality…" _Noémie thought. "I hope so…" She answered aloud.

"So… We're looking for books about the paranormal today. We've been watching a lot of shows like that and we kind of want to follow up on something that we saw on one of them…" Rafe said.

"What books you folks looking for exactly?"

"Something called ze _Tome of Mortality?_" Noémie said.

"_Tome of Mortality_, huh? Never heard of it and I see nothing here in the stock records that looks like that…" The storeowner said, clicking though his computer.

"I see. Mind if we look around though?" Rafe asked.

"Go ahead. I most certainly won't mind…" Mr Morrison chuckled.

"Let's go…" Rafe whispered and Noémie nodded.

They walked around the store for a while, trying to find the source of the magic they felt, pulling out various books and inspecting them with no luck.

Noémie let loose a string of rapid-fire French curses under her breath.

"_Where ees eet?"_ She wondered, frustrated.

"The magic is here, yet not here at the same time…." Rafe said. "How could that be?"

Noémie thought for a moment. "Secret passage or basement perhaps?"

"That could work…" Rafe answered.

"Let me try somesing..." Noémie blinked and when she opened her eyes, they glowed dark purple.

Glancing around that particular section, she soon saw a black, pulsating energy in the wall.

"It's around 'ere..." She pointed at the area of the wall she saw the energy from, blinking again and her eyes resumed a normal appearance.

As Rafe moved his hand along that area of the wall, he felt part of it shift.

"Well, what do you know? It does work…" He raised an eyebrow at the sunken in portion of the wall.

It swung around and there it was: The Tome of Mortality.

The book might have looked like a simple, brown leather journal but to them, judging by the immense amounts of dark energy they could feel radiating from it, it was indeed what they were looking for.

"This was almost too easy…" Noémie chuckled as she reached for it, but drew her hand back quickly as it stung her.

"Ouch!" Noémie cursed again in French. "What was zat?"

"I dunno. It doesn't affect me, whatever it is…" Rafe reached for it and held it in one hand without a problem.

"Damn. It may be my mixed heritage. I did not consider zis angle…" Noémie cursed again.

"What about your mixed heritage? Was one of your parents a real goody-goody?" Rafe slipped the Tome into his satchel.

"I'll tell you later. At least we have the thing in our possession. Let's go…" Noémie grabbed his hand and practically dragged him out of the store without another look at old Larry Morrison.


	6. Chapter 6

Neima sat alone in her Incantations class, currently being taught by Professor Juvinall, aka Allegra's mother, Mirta. Said younger fairy was currently in a Magical History class, wanting to avoid having classes with her friends were in so she chose another time slot for that class.

Smart move, Neima thought…

"Now trying to combine different key words from different incantations is never a smart idea. That would be like combining two completely different potions together, just to see what the effects might be. Disaster could ensue and you do _not_ want to find out if that disaster would be a big one or not…" Mirta said.

"So basically, we shouldn't try to cast multiple spells at the same time?" Abigail raised her hand and asked.

"Exactly. At least, not until you have much more control of your fairy magic." Mirta answered.

"Okay. I got 'cha." Abigail nodded.

"Good. Now, homework for today…" Mirta snapped her fingers and papers appeared in each student's desks, much to their dismay.

"I was hoping that she wouldn't say the word _homework _today…" Neima groaned, head-desking.

"Now, now. You should be used to this level of work by now. Plus this is light work compared to what you will get in later years…" Mirta made the class groan even more with that statement.

She chuckled in amusement. "Enough of that. Time for you all to head to your next class…"

The girls all got up and headed for the door.

"She said that was just the start? I'm not sure I _want_ to know what the rest involves then…" Neima looked though the worksheet as well as a list of essay topics they were given to pick one from.

"Might as well get cracking on this as soon as we can, but for now, we've got Palladium's class to deal with…" Abigail said, magicking her papers to her own dorm as they entered the classroom.

Allegra came in shortly afterwards and took the seat on Neima's left.

"Okay, ladies. Settle down…" Palladium walked into the classroom.

"As you all know, I will be allowing you into the Magical Simulation Chamber very soon to test your skills since you will have to face a situation in there for your end-of-semester exams."

The girls in the class looked at one another.

"It will be individual testing in the actual exam, so your exercises will also be individual. You do have one advantage in that you will be told your options to pick from in advance. However, that will only be one week in advance so I would advise you to study everything you can."

"Holy Great Dragon. Will we have to do all of that in front of everyone else?" Neima asked, sounding horrified.

"You will have to do the practice exercise in front of everyone else Neima, but the examination itself will be done privately. You will all be doing this on Friday, by the way…"

"But… that's like two days away!" Allegra exclaimed.

"Two days to prepare then. Remember that your exercise on Friday is not part of your grades, but is merely to assess your current skill level and help show which areas you need to work on. Be grateful that you have the opportunity to try out the Simulation Chamber beforehand. Any of you who have relatives or know other fairies who attended Alfea in the past would know that it is not as easy as it looks to complete an exercise in the Chamber…" Palladium replied smoothly.

Neima and Allegra glanced at one another, remembering their mothers' tales about their experiences in the Magical Simulation Chamber.

"_This should be interesting, don't you think?"_ Allegra whispered, not looking worried in the least.

"How can you be so ca… oh wait. You're you…" A random classmate said.

"I wouldn't have it any other way!" Allegra smiled serenely at the other fairy.

"Before we begin today's actual class, I will just give you a few tips for your first time being in the Chamber…"

Palladium waved his hand and text began appearing on the digital board behind him.

"Point number 1: Treat _everything_ in the Simulation Chamber as if it is real…"

The young fairies all scrambled to get their notes down.

* * *

"Yep, so apparently that Zara girl that we beat down Hectate and her cronies alongside a few weeks ago is actually the daughter of Diaspro, that fairy that mom said tried to steal dad from her with a love potion from Valtor. I don't know why she'd _want_ to steal dad from mom but what do I know?" Joanna shrugged as she, Lewis and Eleanor sat at a booth in the Hex Café.

"Strange how the universe works, isn't it? To think that your mother and hers were bitter rivals over your dad and now you actually fought together against a common hated enemy…" Eleanor said, stirring her coffee with magic idly.

"Yeah, though judging by the tales told, our mom and Diaspro would _never _be able to work together like that. It would have to take something really major to get them to work together…" Joanna declared a glass of soda in one gulp.

"Speaking of Diaspro's daughter, here she is now…" Lewis looked up to see Zara entering the restaurant, getting some disdainful looks and outright glares, but not seeming to care.

"I'll go invite her to sit with us, huh?" Lewis got up.

"Lewis, _no!_" Joanna hissed, but Lewis was already talking to Zara and apparently someone had cracked a joke between them since they both were laughing as they walked over after Zara had gotten her order.

"What's so funny?" Eleanor inquired as the two slid into the booth seat opposite hers and Joanna's.

"Nothing. Inside joke." Lewis said.

Joanna raised an eyebrow. "_Inside joke? _Didn't you two just meet?"

"Oh no. We've met before." Lewis said, still smiling.

"Uh-huh… So you're Diaspro's daughter, aren't you, Zara? Is that what you meant by your little comment when we last met?" Joanna asked with an edge to her tone.

"Yes. Is that going to be a problem?" Zara asked, sounding slightly hostile.

"Okay. I've seen you two in action fighting someone else together, but I do _not_ want to see you two fighting each other…" Eleanor narrowed her eyes as she looked between the two blondes sitting across from one another.

"I won't if she doesn't." Zara sipped her chocolate milkshake.

"I am above such petty fights." Joanna sat up haughtily.

"No you're not, judging by your spats with Hectate…" Lewis said.

"You're my brother. You're supposed to be on _my_ side!" Joanna glared at him.

"Whatever. So… Zara, how is it going to magic school on Earth? And living in a different country there than the one mom was raised in?" Lewis asked.

"The Institute of Magic is pretty bloody awesome. It's almost like a city within a building. There are rooms for conferences, offices for the administration staff, a library, a bookstore, a store where you can buy all sorts of magical items and supplies, a few restaurants, gardens, workout areas, swimming pools, the school itself, the dorms and all other school related facilities are on the top floor. Very ultra-modern, magical thing like if Magix was packed inside. Portals to Magix and Tir Nan Og itself are in the building too…" Zara proceeded to describe the Institute in greater detail.

"That actually sounds pretty cool. I wouldn't mind paying that school a visit…" Eleanor looked impressed as did Lewis, but Joanna remained impassive.

"Me too…" Lewis said.

"And living in the dorms there is pretty cool too. There are lounges dedicated especially to the students. I shared a dorm with four other fairies there instead of two, but they're pretty cool. Arianne has the same power source as me and has a bedroom for herself and Callie…"

"Who's Callie?" Joanna asked.

"Her two year old daughter…" Zara said.

"Oh."

"And then there's Sanat and Janae. Sanat is from Turkey and Janae's Jamaican. I've been to Jamaica before and it's pretty nice there. Haven't reached Turkey yet, but Sanat wants me to come visit her home in Istanbul in the summer... I share a bedroom with Keiko. She's Japanese and she has your mother's power source, Eleanor. Which is oddly coincidental since Japan is also known as the Land of the Rising Sun… She's a really great singer and performer too. She wanted to be a J-Pop star before she found out about being a fairy so fairy training took priority instead…" Zara finished.

"Sounds like an interesting bunch of roommates, I must admit. I knew a senior from last year that was from Earth too. Her name's Yasmine and she's from London. Same place as you, I think. I also think she's your mother's friend's daughter, isn't she?" Joanna asked Zara.

Zara nodded. "Yes she's from London too and she's my mum's friend Zinah and her husband Mahdi's daughter. We don't see each other that often anymore though now that she's travelling... I heard that she graduated top witch of her year..."

"Yep, she did. She was cool. Taught me a few tips and tricks for dealing with Hectate since they both share the same power source..." Joanna smirked at the thought.

"Plus I had a roommate from Earth last year too- Tanaya. She's from Trinidad. Unfortunately, Hectate's cousin Tamara was my roommate too, so I had to request more… _suitable_ living arrangements this year and Tanaya got moved to another dorm. Pity. I liked her. I didn't have to set her on fire…" Joanna shrugged.

"So... basically you show your appreciation for people by not setting them on fire?" Zara raised an eyebrow.

"Pretty much, yes." Joanna lit a finger briefly, smirking.

"Your reputation for being a pyromaniac really is true. I guess I'm not surprised…" Zara chuckled.

"Of course. I may not be a future Queen, but I am still a Princess and I will not show weakness!" Joanna said proudly.

"Some would say that you don't behave in a manner befitting your title. What do you say to them?" Zara asked.

"I say: _Screw them._"

"Well put."

The two blondes laughed.

"I think we can come to a cordial agreement at the very least, right?" Joanna said, raising her refilled glass of soda.

"I do believe so." Zara raised her milkshake as well.

"That's good. At least I won't have to worry about someone being set on fire or turned into a jewelled dartboard between the two of you…" Lewis laughed.

"Thank goodness." Eleanor laughed as well but then noticed some guys in the Café ogling her when she stood up to brush herself off so she glared and they went back to what they were doing.

"Does that happen a lot?" Zara asked, having noticed what happened.

"Yep. My brother and I weren't voted "Most Beautiful Male and Female Young People" by MagicTeen Magazine for nothing but I do not appreciate the stares." Eleanor muttered as she adjusted her glasses.

"Royal and beautiful. However will you survive?" Zara asked sarcastically.

"They're not going to vote me into MagicTeen Magazine anytime soon. I'm too "edgy" for their tastes…"Joanna said.

"You could make it in if you'd ditch the punk/Goth look, but that's totally you and that's why I love you like a sister: you never let anyone dictate who you should be- not even your mom when it was time to decide whether to train as a fairy or a witch." Eleanor said.

"Oh I know. Mom managed to get me to dress like a proper princess a total of twice since I was able to walk and talk. When I was six and when I was fourteen when I went to your thirteenth birthday party…" Joanna addressed her.

"Yeah… Do you mind if the two of us got going? I see you're engrossed in conversation we're not particularly interested in right now…" Lewis stood up and helped Zara out of her seat.

"Yea, go ahead big bro. Not like I can stop you…" Joanna waved them off.

Eleanor studied the pair as they left.

"Joanna, they hardly know each other now but why do I get the feeling that they're going to end up making out by the end of the school year?" Eleanor asked.

"How should I know?" Joanna shrugged. "They can do whatever the hell they feel like, though if they got together and she hurt him, I'd roast her alive…"

"Again with the roasting people alive thing?"

"You know that's my go-to thing."

"Oh, just shut up and eat, Joanna…"

* * *

Noémie and Rafe were back in Los Angeles once again, sitting in the living room of the same luxury suite in the Ritz Carlton once again.

"We weren't even gone two days properly and we found it." Rafe gloated.

"The problem is that I cannot touch it and I think I know why. The bigger problem is that rectifying the first problem will be quite a challenge if I cannot find the person or persons I need to help me…" Noémie said.

"You still haven't explained the problem properly to me. What is it?" Rafe asked, sounding impatient.

"You know about the Winx Club, don't you?" Noémie asked, sinking into a chair.

"Who wouldn't? Even if you're not a magical yourself, how can you forget those who freed the Earth Fairies from their imprisonment by the Wizards of the Black Circle and brought magic back to the planet?" Rafe asked. "Why do you reference them?"

"My mother was a member of the Winx Club, a group of fairies who fought the Ancestresses and the witches known as the Trix, who are their direct descendants." Noémie explained.

Rafe's eyes widened in realization. "You're Tecna's daughter, aren't you? The Winx Club member that disappeared twenty five years ago. That's why the book won't let you touch it! You're a descendant of the enemy and the book's magic sensed it!"

"Precisely. The book completely ignored ze dark magic within me from my father's side of ze family. My father was Duman, the shapeshifter of the Wizards of the Black Circle."

Rafe whistled. "Talk about sleeping with the enemy…"

"Yes, yes, I know. Now because it senses that I am the daughter of Tecna aka one of their worst enemies, it will not let me even touch it, far less attempt any spells contained within it, despite me not working to use and destroy it for good! I'm using it for my own selfish gain!" Noémie exclaimed.

"So… How do you plan on getting the Tome of Mortality to let you use it?" Rafe asked.

"Simple: Convince one of the Trix to help us out." Noémie smirked.

"You are _crazy._ How do you expect that to work?" Rafe asked.

"Come on. Look how many times ze Trix broke out of prison. Or someone helped zem break out. Whatever. The security wasn't even top-notch for them and zey were supposed to be extremely dangerous criminals! What must it be like zen for the mere petty thieves and mischief makers? Still, I know zat I should not get too overconfident. Overconfidence was my father's downfall after all…" Noémie paced up and down. "No one knows where Icy and Darcy disappeared to when they escaped their "high security prisons" after their last confrontation with the Winx Club but Stormy ees still een her cell somewhere at another high security prison. We need to form a strategy to get 'er out of zere…"

"Seriously though. How do you plan on doing that?" Rafe asked.

"I need to go back to Paris and get to my mega computer. I can do a lot of research there. You are coming with me too, naturally. Mother said zat I should seek out allies or anything zat could help us at ze Institute of Magic gala. She never said what zey should 'elp us weeth…" Noémie chuckled and rubbed her hands together in glee.

"So your mother doesn't know about your… this plan of yours?" Rafe asked.

"Not a clue and I have to keep it zat way. She believes zat certain theengs should not be _tampered with._"

"What are these _certain theengs_ that should not be tampered with? I still don't get that part of the plot. I want to know what would make me tagging along and helping you worth my while." Rafe said.

"Besides power, wealth, excitement and being able to get out of zat teeny leetle place you call a town that you really hate so much…" Noémie let her ponytail down and shoved Rafe into the sofa.

"…you also get _moi_ in ze package…" She gave him a sultry look before beginning to make out with him.

"Well, with an offer like that, how can I refuse?" Rafe smirked once they had both come up for air.

"I get something good out of zis partnership too, an unexpected bonus in you so it's all good. I cannot let such an attractive body like yours go to waste after all…" Noémie smirked as she got back up, brushed herself off and fixed back her ponytail.

"As much as I would like to continue zis party, I must take care of our travel arrangements- or rather yours since my ticket back to Paris is already booked…" She waved coyly at Rafe over her shoulder as she went for her laptop and turned it on, sitting at the table on the balcony.

* * *

"Welcome back, daughter dear. Who is this young man that you have brought back with you?" Tecna asked in French, standing at the doorway, looking Rafe up and down and not bothering to disguise her obvious contempt of her daughter's unexpected travel companion.

"This is Rafe Prescott, maman. He is a self-trained American wizard born in Seattle, Washington but raised in Kimball, Nebraska. I met him at the Institute of Magic's gala and after a few talks with him, I decided to bring him here." Noémie explained.

"Oh really?" Tecna raised an eyebrow. "What made you decide that? What can he even do?" She switched to English for a moment, turning her gaze to him.

"I like to call myself a Power Interactionist. My powers deal other people's powers. Strengthening, weakening, copying, nullifying them as well as some basic spellcasting ability and teleportation." Rafe answered smoothly.

"Ah. I see. Well, I trust your judgement and you can take care of yourself- and him- _Noémie…_" Tecna said in a warning tone.

"There is nothing to worry about, mother. I shall be fine and Rafe can be trusted. Now I will show him around the manor…" Noémie said to her mother before leading Rafe off.

"Your mother does not seem to like me very much, Noémie…" He said as he took in his surroundings.

"She does not seem to like anything or anyone that much. She has always been that way with me. I think she ees also a bit protective of me as well. Logic, reasoning, studying the situation before jumping into things. Hypocrite, what about her fling with my father? That wasn't very logical of her, was it? Still, I understand her but sometimes you must take a chance like she did with my father, yes? I theenk eet ees ze fact zat I brought you to France with me so quickly without "analysing you properly". Humph." Noémie held a hand up to a scanner next to the door that led to her room.

The door glowed green for a moment and swung open.

"Nice room you got here…." Rafe whistled in admiration.

"Thanks. I decorated it all myself…" Noémie gestured around at all the ultra-modern décor.

"And ze mega computer I told you about…" Noémie flicked a switched a switch on one otherwise completely blank wall.

The wall shimmered for a moment before a large, flat-screened monitor about half Noémie's height emerged, with two smaller versions of the monitor also appearing on either side.

Rafe looked impressed. "Just like some in Magix…"

Noémie smirked. "Better than ze ones in Magix. Mother and I built zis system together and only we know how to work it properly so far."

"Any chance of me learning how to work this?" Rafe asked.

"We shall see. It is not as easy to work as I might make it seem." She touched the largest monitor and all five monitors sprung to life.

She moved her fingers on the main screen in a particular pattern and muttered a few spell words as she did so.

A bunch of binary numbers appeared on the screen.

"What is all that?" Rafe asked.

"Just getting through a bunch of codes and such to find out where Stormy ees being held. Zey put the Trix in three separate high security prisons and they never told the general public where they were. Zey actually played it smart this time. Well, I… I am _smarter._"

Noémie began to grin as the monitors all flashed and a blueprint of a large building appeared.

"Whoa. Woman, you are good…" Rafe said admiringly.

"Thank you. I know. Now, apparently, Stormy is being held in this prison right on the edge of the Magix Planet near the wild territory. No other buildings or people for miles around. Deep underground in a power nullifying cell with a power nullifier bracelet on for good measure…" Noémie unconsciously rubbed the silver bracelet on her right wrist.

"Damn! You're really good at this sort of thing. Can you imagine the millions you could make by doing this hacking thing to banks?" Rafe asked.

"I do not have to imagine. I have done eet already to banks both 'ere on Earth an een ze Magical Dimension." Noémie said casually.

"Have you ever done a legitimate thing in your life?" Rafe raised an eyebrow.

"I went through school with top grades and have an Undergraduate Degree in Mathematics from a French university and a Master's Degree in Mathematics from a Belgian one. Zey are probably ze only "legitimate" accomplishments I have een life!" Noémie chuckled.

"Beautiful, rich, powerful and highly intelligent, all in one package. Why do you not have a boyfriend?" Rafe asked.

"Zey are all intimidated by my greatness. Had a grand total of two boyfriends in my life. Zey could never handle this een ze end..." Noémie smirked.

"But enough of me. We need to talk about you… _after_ we get back from this prison break…" She plugged two cell phones into the computer and loaded maps onto them.

"Here. Zis one ees for you. As well as…" She swept her hand across another section of the wall and a large drawer containing various types of weapons opened up.

"I want a room like this. Seriously. _I want a room like this._" Rafe looked amazed once again as she tossed him a pair of magic guns.

"Play along on this game well enough and perhaps you'll get to share it with me." Noémie shapeshifted into a dark-green haired, brown-eyed, shorter, stockier female appearance and morphed her clothes into simple black jeans and a T-Shirt.

"I wish I could have seen you change clothes in the non-magical way. All your disguises I've seen you in are beautiful too…" Rafe smirked.

"Of course. Now…" Noémie tucked two magical guns of her own into her waistbands. "I want you to kill only if necessary."

"What do you mean by _necessary?_" Rafe asked as he cast spells on different parts of himself individually in order to change his appearance.

"Only if zey try to kill you or me first. Unnecessary murder is such a waste of a life…" Noémie answered as she patted her guns and fiddled with her silver bracelet.

"I gotcha." Rafe nodded.

"Alright then. I believe zat we 'ave everything zat we shall need. Disguises, maps of ze prison, good quality weaponry to back up our own magique just een case…" Noémie made all the mega computer's monitors recede into the wall as well as the drawer that she had taken the weapons from.

"Tome of Mortality, you shall soon be able to bring my plans... _back to life…_" Noémie laughed as she linked arms with Rafe and they teleported out of the room.

* * *

In a darkened, padded cell, sat a woman with short, bushy hair.

She had been imprisoned for over twenty five years, but she had lost count of the years as well as losing her grip on reality a long time ago.

Dull, blue eyes looked around at the main surroundings she had seen since being imprisoned and the woman sighed.

Ever since she and her coven sisters had been imprisoned separately so long ago, she had waited and waited for some other villain to set her free, just as they always had.

She waited and waited and waited…

And they never came. Never came… She was never going to be free to wreak havoc again…

That was when Stormy had finally cracked.

She didn't know what was going on in the outside world, how her sisters were doing, what villain's ass those blasted Winx Club fairies were busy kicking this time…

BOOM!

"_What was that?"_ She thought.

BOOM! BOOM!

Her cell shook and she fell to the ground in her magically reinforced straitjacket.

She heard guards moving around outside, yelling orders and other words as the noise level and sounds of her favourite thing- chaos- grew louder.

Suddenly, the door of her cell was blasted open and she was thrown back into a padded wall.

"Oh look how ze great 'ave fallen…" A female stepped into the room.

"So far and so, _so_ hard…" A male followed her in.

"Who are you two?" Stormy asked, voice hoarse and cracked from years of disuse.

"_Us?_ We're ze people breaking you out of zis joint!" The female said as the male raised a finger and cut off Stormy's bindings with a simple laser beam spell.

"As for zis…" The female stepped closer to her, pressed a button on some silver bracelet she was wearing and a tiny key went from her bracelet to Stormy's own, unlocking it.

Stormy walked slowly out of the room, stretching and massaging her wrists.

"Stormy's out! Don't let them get away!" A guard yelled.

"Like hell I'm not getting away!" Stormy screamed, letting loose a barrage of lightning bolts in his direction.

"This is as fun as it used to be!" Stormy screeched with delight.

The woman who released her had shapeshifted into a lioness and batted aside several incoming guards while the male had shot at a guard who'd tried to shoot the woman, hitting him directly between the eyes.

Hm. She liked those two. They were showing more restraint than she herself was, but hey. They were still kicking serious amounts of ass and getting her out of this hellhole so who was she to criticize their methods?

Stormy shot a lightning bolt straight through a guard's chest and he fell to the ground, convulsing from the electric shock, even though he was already dead from the moment the lightning bolt made contact with him.

"Come, Madame Stormy. We 'ave a business deal to discuss…" The woman took one of Stormy's hands while the man took the other and they teleported out to the sweet, sweet freedom that Stormy had not experienced in so long.

* * *

"So, who are you two, where am I and what do you want from me? I know you wouldn't break me in particular out of that hellhole just for shits and giggles…" Stormy looked at the two young people sitting across the room from her.

"Well, I am Noémie and zis is Rafe. You are een a house in a place on Planet Earth called Verona, Italy and we have the Tome of Mortality and need your… _assistance _in opening it. Or more accurately, _I_ need your assistance in opening it." Noémie explained.

"If the book won't let you open it, then who are you _really?_" Stormy narrowed her eyes.

"I am Noémie. You know zat. My father was a dark wizard, but ze magique of ze Tome which prevents me from opening it comes from ze fact that my mother ees Tecna of ze Winx Club and since she is one of ze Ancestress' greatest enemies…"

Stormy bolted up from her chair. "Who, _you?_ I saw you take down those guards in that hellhole without a hint of a conscience and _you're_ a daughter of a Winx Club fairy? Why the hell should I want to help the daughter of an enemy of my Ancestresses- and _myself?!_"

"For one theeng, I am not as _goody-goody_ as my mother certainly was when you, Icy and Darcy fought the Winx Club. Another theeng? My mother certainly ees not goody-goody now, especially since she and my father had their leetle trysts. And thirdly…?" Noémie moved so quickly that Stormy barely had any time to react.

"If you don't… _assist_ me, I will assist _you_ to an early grave." Noémie's left hand morphed into a tiger paw and she held the claws up to Stormy's throat. "Or better yet, I _could_ leave you as a nice leetle package for ze prison guards in zat place you call a… how did you say eet? Oh yes. _A hellhole._" The French shapeshifter narrowed her eyes down at the storm witch.

"_Oh man, that is hot!" _Rafe thought, tugging at his shirt collar.

"Well, well, well. I'm impressed. Who knew that goody-goody logical Tecna had it in her to produce a daughter like you?" Stormy chuckled. "I wonder who your father is though. It can't be that goody-goody ginger nerd…" She continued after Noémie had let her up.

"Oh hell no! My father was Duman, zeshapeshifting wizard of ze Wizards of the Black Circle." Noémie said.

"Well damn! I missed quite a lot when I was locked away! If _Tecna_ of all people was doing the horizontal mambo with him, then she's far from being a goody-goody. I'm in! Now where's the Tome of Mortality?" Stormy asked.

"Rafe has eet." Noémie thumbed him over her shoulder, who retrieved it out of his satchel and handed it to Stormy, who felt it for a few seconds.

"And I thought this thing was lost forever…" She held the book out at arm's length and admired it.

She snapped out of her reverie and looked up at Noémie was watching her expectantly, arms folded across her chest and tapping her foot impatiently.

"All I need from you is a vial of blood and I can unlock the Tome for you." Stormy said.

"Zat ees easily done…" Noémie took a vial, a needle and a syringe from Rafe that he had magicked up.

Once she was done drawing enough blood from herself, she handed the vial to Stormy, who held it in her hand and chanted as the vial glowed black.

She drew a circle around the book with the blood and the book glowed the same black as the vial.

The blood was drawn into the book and absorbed as Stormy muttered an incantation.

When she stopped the incantation, the glow subsided and the book returned to its regular appearance.

"Try it now." Stormy said, handing the book to the waiting Noémie.

Noémie held the Tome in her hands and this time, the protective magic around it did not affect her.

She shifted the book from one hand to another for a few moments, before beginning to smile.

Undoing the clasp, she flicked through it for a minute until she came to a spell near the very end.

When her eyes fell on it, her smile turned into a grin which in turn evolved into a smirk.

"Excellent. All ze information zat I shall need is een here. Some of zese ingredients shall be a bit difficult to acquire, but due to ze nature of zis spell, zat ees to be expected, of course. But it is all here and it is all possible!" Noémie began to laugh an evil laugh as she showed Rafe the spell she planned on using and once he realised what it was, he began to laugh as well.

* * *

Meanwhile at Cloud Tower, Joanna sat up suddenly in her bed, breathing heavily.

"Joanna, what's the matter?" Eleanor was hovering above Joanna's bed, wearing a simple silver nightdress and her hair let down, looking like a ghost in the darkness.

"I don't know. I just don't. Just… Lots of flashes of light, screaming, evil laughter and I don't mean the kind of laughs that come from me when I beat Hectate in a fight…" She said slowly. "I don't like this feeling at all…"

"Relax, Jo. It was just a dream, alright? Maybe you should just calm down…" Eleanor put a hand on Joanna's shoulder.

"I don't know, Nori. It just felt so damn real. I just _don't._ I had a really bad feeling about it…"

"At least try to get back to sleep, Jo. We can always see if it meant anything in the morning…" Eleanor handed her roommate and friend a glass of water.

"You're right, Nori. You're right. Might not even mean anything…" Joanna said as she gulped the water.

But… what if it_ did?_


	7. Chapter 7

_Merry Christmas to all who celebrate and to those who don't, just enjoy the season! :)_

* * *

"_What?_ Who would want to break Stormy out after all this time?" Headmistress Griffin asked as she sat in her office talking to a prison officer through her crystal ball.

"We don't know who they are Professor, other than it was a female shapeshifter and a male wizard that did it. They were super-efficient and super prepared. They had good weaponry on them as well as using spells. They seemed to know exactly what they were doing and had no conscience whatsoever about it. In total, they killed nine guards and injured seventeen more. We looked at the security footage and not one of them, the two attackers or Stormy were ever even _touched _by our guards…"

"This is disturbing news indeed. Have the other school heads been notified?" Griffin asked.

"I have some of my officers doing so at this very moment. Stormy is even more of a loose cannon than she was when caught twenty six years ago so everyone must be on high alert. We don't know what those people freed her for but obviously it can't be for anything good…"

"Agreed. I'll let my students know in the morning. They should be on high alert, just in case…" Griffin nodded as the call ended.

She sighed as she got up to walk around her office. For some reason that night, she couldn't sleep so she decided to come to her office to do some work and perhaps read instead but before she could really get into what she was doing, she had received this very disturbing call from one of the most highly secured prisons on Magix Planet that had warned of Stormy's escape.

What was even more disturbing to her was the fact that someone had taken the time and effort to break her out. And so scarily efficiently at that. What could they possibly want with her? Especially after all this time?

Now she knew she definitely wouldn't be able to get any sleep tonight…

* * *

"Witches of Cloud Tower: I have some very important news to share and it does not relate to the Witching Skills Challenge. This news is of a much more important variety, so listen to me well."

The witches in the hall looked at one another, possibly wondering what could be more important than a contest that would allow them to show off and potentially get better grades in their courses.

"Many of you would have mothers, aunts and other relatives that attended school at here, Red Fountain or Alfea around thirty years ago when the Trix who I'm sorry to say were once students of this prestigious institution before they were expelled. Some years ago, they were all imprisoned separately for their crimes. As you know, Icy and Darcy managed to escape a few years ago and remained in hiding, not causing any trouble as far as we know. However, the third of the bunch and the wildcard of the Trix, Stormy, escaped her maximum security prison last night, with some assistance." Griffin continued.

The witches in the hall gasped while Eleanor and Joanna looked at one another in shock.

"Who would want to do that? _Now?_ I thought the big bad villains were done with breaking them out of prison years ago!" Joanna exclaimed.

"Apparently they weren't done yet. Let's hope they don't follow in their predecessors' footsteps and come after _us _like they did with our parents…" Eleanor said.

"Especially me, liked they liked to do with my mother, apparently…" Joanna said. "But at least I'm a better fighter than she was since I was trained in magic all my life…"

"Let's hope you don't have to put those fighting skills to the test against them, shall we? For all we know, it could be someone that wanted all the Trix freed, just because. But that's not likely the case. You don't just break someone out of prison just because you can…" Eleanor frowned.

"True…" They turned their attention back to what their Headmistress was saying

"These people, alongside Stormy, managed to kill nine of the prison guards and injured seventeen more so they are not to be trifled with. If you see Stormy, or anyone that is with her, stay far away from them and _do not attempt to fight them yourselves…_" Griffin's eyes strayed in Joanna's direction.

"Oh come on! I don't just jump into fights like that!" Joanna exclaimed.

"Actually, yes, you do." Eleanor pointed out.

Joanna simply glared at her.

"I cannot emphasize this enough. Stormy and the people who liberated her from that prison were merciless in that assault. Nine prison guards were _murdered_ in the process and that death toll might very well rise since seventeen _more_ guards were also injured in the assault."

"At least _I_ never killed anyone…" Joanna muttered.

"Keep this in mind as you go around your business in Magix. Stay safe and be careful. And most importantly, if you see Stormy or anyone accompanying her, _do not_ try to be a hero and fight. _Run._ Get out of there as quickly as you can and let the proper authorities know. Assembly dismissed. Now get onto your classes…" Griffin clapped her hands, dismissing them.

Around them, witches talked about the news they had been given.

"I can't believe it. After all this time, Stormy has finally escaped…" One witch said.

"With some seriously powerful help…" Another added.

"I know! I really do wonder though: what they could want with her?"

"Another villainous scheme, just like the old villains used to do, no doubt…"

"What other schemes are villains supposed to do _other _than villainous schemes, stupid?"

"Hey, Joanna! You think Stormy will come after you? The Trix seemed to come after your mom all the time when they were broken out back in the day. Maybe she'll continue the tradition with you!" Hectate walked past, laughing.

"Knock it off before she has to set you on fire again, Hectate…" Eleanor snapped, seeing that Joanna was distracted by her thoughts. What thoughts those were, she didn't know for sure, but she could guess…

"Whatever, weakling. Why do you have to speak up for Joanna herself? Silence spell got her tongue or has she just realized that I'm the better witch?" Hectate smirked, her cronies laughing behind her, a red-haired, grey-eyed witch in the bunch laughing the loudest of all of them.

"Oh shut up, Hectate. And you too, Tamara, cackling over there like a hyena." Eleanor glared at the redhead, who shut up.

"We'll see how _weak_ my lunar based powers are if you test my patience. Powers from the moon don't _have_ to be all light, good and fairy-esque. I could do things with you that would be so painful that it will hurt to even move an _inch._ And that's just for starters, so _don't test me_ if you know what's good for you..." The moon witch growled.

The Ring of Solaria glowing slightly on Eleanor's finger as she waved her hand casually, making sure that Tamara saw it and the implied threat associated with it.

"Any problems here, young witches?" Professor Ediltrude walked over to the budding confrontation with a bigger frown than usual on her face.

"Oh no, not in the slightest, Professor Ediltrude. Eleanor here was just proving once again why she's my friend and why she should make an excellent witch…" Joanna said, smiling innocently- a look that didn't fit her at all- and everyone present knew it.

"I'm sure of that…" Professor Ediltrude said sarcastically. "Now get to your classes. Anyone who is late to mine or loiters around will be spending two hours in the Detention Dimension!"

And with that, all the witches whether they had class at that time or not scattered off.

Except Joanna.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, Professor, I have a… _concern_ I would like to share with Professor Griffin and I have no class now, so…" Joanna walked off.

* * *

"Hello there, dear twin brother!"

"Hey Ross. How's Oskuria treating you now?" Lewis asked his brother as he spoke to him with his holo-phone.

"Okay, as usual. Classes are fine, roommates are fine, and the teachers are fine… A little on the boring side, but at least we both have only a few months left until we graduate, right?" Ross said.

"You said it. I'm looking forward to it, yet not looking forward to it at the same time, you know?" Lewis asked.

"Oh I know. Oskuria College is still stuck back in the time of Earth's Middle Ages. At least they allow us to carry some magical technology with us now. I heard that they had to use such old-fashioned methods to communicate with the other realms until about fifteen years ago…" Ross said.

"And you've heard about the excitement over here in Magix now, right?" Lewis asked.

"Even with how backward this realm is with nearly refusing to implement technology over here, how could I _not_ hear about it? It's the biggest topic at breakfast, lunch, dinner and every other time in between! I wonder how those people managed to get Stormy out like that. It was supposed to be a top-security prison that the public wouldn't know she was in and she was in the most secure section of that high security prison!" Ross exclaimed.

"It's a big topic over here too, bro. Adrian, Jaden and even Airhead Arthur were talking about it…" Lewis said.

"Airhead Arthur?" Ross raised an eyebrow. "He might fancy himself as a regular Don Juan, but he isn't stupid…"

"He behaves that way to me. Just because he gets decent grades doesn't mean he's smart…" Lewis pointed out.

"You have a point. Hey, are you there alone? I want to talk to Jaden about something…" Ross said.

"I'm alone. Jaden is out with his sister and Adrian went to visit his brother Justin and Justin's girlfriend Mariah at their apartment with Allegra. As for Arthur… Arthur's out being Arthur…" Lewis rolled his eyes.

"So… Why aren't you out then?" Ross asked.

"I'm waiting on another call…" Lewis smiled.

Ross raised a suspicious eyebrow. "Is it a call that I should know about?"

"We'll see in time…" Lewis continued to smile.

"It's a girl, isn't it? Who's the lucky lady? Future Queen of Domino?" Ross teased.

Lewis glared. "How should I know? I just really started talking to Zara- oh, wait. I probably should not have said that…"

"_Zara?_ You're talking to _Zara_ like _that?_ The same Zara of Earth and the daughter of Diaspro that mom and dad dislike so much? Oh this is rich! When they find out, their reaction will be so damn entertaining!" Ross roared with laughter.

"Cut it out, Ross! We're just talking to each other! Plus I don't think she even knows I kinda like her..." Lewis frowned.

"Yeah. _Talking._ You're probably doing as much talking as Arthur does with his Girl of the Week…" Ross was now laughing so hard that he began to cry.

"You're oh, so hilarious. You know that, right? So _freaking _hilarious…" Lewis growled as he ended the call in the midst of his twin's laughter.

Mere seconds later, his phone rang again.

"Hey Zara. Glad it's you instead of my dear older-than-me-by-five-minutes twin…" Lewis said.

"What, twin angst again? My brothers Charles and Andrew don't seem to have that problem. They're like a blond version of the Weasley twins…" Zara chuckled.

"Who?" Lewis looked puzzled.

"I think I'm going to have to discuss Earthling literature with you…" Zara frowned.

* * *

"JUSTIN!" Allegra screamed in excitement as she bolted through the door of her oldest brother's upscale Magix City apartment.

"Hey there, little sis! How are you?" Justin, a buff young man with cropped auburn hair and brown eyes behind thin, dark blue wire-framed oval glasses hugged his baby sister tightly.

"I'm good!" She exclaimed.

"Mariah! How are you doing?" She turned her attention to the tan-skinned woman with straight, waist-length black hair with bangs that hid her hazel eyes slightly.

"I'm okay." Mariah chuckled, amused at her boyfriend's sister's antics.

"She's more than okay. Reports from her roommates say that she's been as energetic as ever…" Adrian laughed.

"Always." Allegra nodded.

"Well, how's Alfea these days? I know I went to Cloud Tower and not there, but I had a couple friends who went there…" Mariah sat crossed-legged in a dark green egg chair.

"Alfea is awesome! I love all the classes there- despite one of my courses being taught by my mother! My roommates are pretty cool too! I didn't get to share a room with Juniper, but Neima and Zara are okay too! Did you know that Zara is Diaspro's daughter by the way?" Allegra asked.

"So I heard. Really?" Justin looked at his brother.

"Yep. Mum said so. Apparently, Flora told her so. She saw Diaspro, Zara and the rest of her family at that Institute of Magic thing a week ago and Roxy confirmed that it was indeed her. Apparently, Queen Bloom wasn't too happy about her being there, but it's not like she could kick her out. It wasn't her event to do that with, anyway…" Adrian shrugged.

"I would have paid to see the look on her face when she saw and recognized her!" Mariah laughed.

"Me too. That must have been an amusing sight. Still I can understand why she'd feel that way after all these years. I mean, Diaspro _did_ align herself to Valtor in order to steal Sky away from her, after all..." Justin said.

"But after so many years of Diaspro moving away and apparently moving on with her life?" Allegra asked.

"I dunno. I'd still be wary too unless Diaspro had really proved that she had changed to me personally. She might have appeared to move on, but you never know…" Mariah shrugged.

"Whatever. Now, what about the topic of Stormy's escape? What do you all think of that?" Justin asked.

"Shock. My first reaction was: _Who the hell would want to free her after all this time?_" Adrian said.

"I think that would have been _everyone's_ reaction, Big Bro A…" Allegra said. "It was mine too as well as anyone I heard talking about it at Alfea before I left to meet Adrian and come here…"

"It's the same thing over at Magix Central University. Even my fellow Law School people are discussing what could happen to Stormy as well as the people who freed her if they were ever caught…" Justin rolled his eyes. "But that's quite a while away if at all, judging by the efficiency and mercilessness those people had in freeing her…"

"I know. It worries me a bit. Remember that fire from around the time the school year started? First that and now this? I wonder if they're connected somehow…" Mariah mused.

"I guess we may never know…" Justin said, getting up. "So, does anyone want some ice-cream?" He asked.

"ME!" Allegra was the first one up.

"You're getting the sugar free version, Allegra…" Justin eyed her wearily. "We don't need you any more hyper than you naturally are…"

"DAMMNIT!" Allegra shouted.

When she turned around to glare at Justin, Adrian and Mariah who were laughing at her reaction, they laughed even more.

* * *

"So, what are we doing today, bro?" Neima asked.

"How about we grab something at Café Violet?" He asked her, thumbing a dark purple building just behind them.

"Sounds good!" Neima nodded, smiling.

They walked over to the ultra-modern Café and went inside to see that students from all the magic schools hanging out there peacefully with seemingly no conflicts.

"Well, that's rare…" Neima said, voicing her thoughts on seeing fairies, witches and specialists sitting together in one place and not seeming to be bothering each other at all.

"I know, right? You wouldn't believe the amounts of scuffles I've seen between the fairies, witches and the specialists that fight over them…" Jaden rolled his eyes.

"And look over there…" Neima inclined her head towards another table, where Arthur sat with a pretty girl with short, hot-pink hair in a bob.

"Ah. Arthur's Girl of the Week. Nothing new there, Neima…" Jaden rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I know. This is totally going on my blog though…" Neima discreetly took a picture of the pair with her phone, who failed to notice them.

"Neima, don't you think you may stir up trouble if you do that?" Jaden asked.

"Hell no! This ain't even news, anyway. This is just to add something to the "Girls Prince Arthur of Solaria Has Been Seen With" section of my website, heheheheh…" Neima giggled as she uploaded the picture and updated her blog as they went to get their orders.

As they were eating, they looked up to see that Juniper had just entered the restaurant alone.

"You mind if I invite her over to sit with us?" Jaden asked.

"Not at all!" Neima waved him off.

Minutes later, he was back with her and they all sat talking amicably about light-hearted things.

"Rooming with the girls at Alfea is so much more fun than at home." Juniper said. "I mean, we're not best friends or anything, but at least they don't go out of their way to make my life a living hell..." The Linphean fairy frowned.

"And what the hell do you mean by that?" Neima raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing. I never had to share my living space with so many other girls before, but it's still better than home. I always had my own room at home but I still had to live with mom, dad and that demon spawn they call my brother…" Juniper rolled her eyes.

"Come now. He can't really be that bad, can he?" Jaden asked.

"Oh? _Can't he?_" Juniper's voice gained an edge to it. "Did I ever tell you what he did to my cat the day we were supposed to leave for school this year?"

"What did he do?" Jaden asked curiously.

"Let's see… He used his telekinesis to pin my damn cat onto the roof of my room alongside my luggage… Among other things…" Juniper muttered.

"Are you sure he did that on purpose?" Jaden asked, giving her brother the benefit of the doubt.

"Benjamin _never _does anything like that to me accidentally. He planned it. I'm sure…" Juniper growled.

"So… How about that prison break, huh? That must have taken some real power and skill to break Stormy out of that place…" Neima changed the topic, seeing that Juniper was about to (once again) rant about her demon spawn brother (Neima had been in a video call with Juniper once when he was up to his antics so she understood).

"It's really scary, isn't it? Why would they want to break Stormy out now?" Juniper wondered.

"Can't be for anything good…" Neima said.

"Everyone knows that. First that fire that killed those six people in that warehouse on the edge of the City, then this… makes you wonder what's next, doesn't it?" Jaden said.

"All I know is that I hope these people don't follow the pattern of their predecessors in breaking the Trix out to come after us…" Juniper shuddered at the thought.

"What makes you think they want us? They might just want Stormy for something else…" Jaden said. "Nothing for us to get fussed about unless they actually _do_ try something that hits close to home for us…"

"Yeah. You're right as always, big bro… Now, are you going to finish those fries of yours?" Neima reached over his arms to get to his plate.

* * *

"So, you said that your dream… Nothing was distinct, but you could sense truly dark things happening in it?" Griffin sat across her desk from Joanna, who actually looked somewhat worried.

"Yes. I don't know if it was truly anything to be worried about, but given what happened last night around the time I had that dream… Is it just a coincidence or am I inheriting my mother's freakish ability to sense things in people?" Joanna asked.

"I think it's too early to tell at this point, Joanna. Don't worry about it for now. I'll give you a note to give to Professor Bittersmoke…" Griffin conjured a piece of green paper and wrote on it with a quill, handing it to the younger witch.

"Go. Don't worry unnecessarily." Griffin dismissed her.

As soon as she was gone, Griffin let her own worries show.

"The signs are there… Too many things just not adding up lately. I just hope that if something happens, that we're all prepared for it…"


	8. Chapter 8

"Well then. Are you ready for this, Neima?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose. Are you ready for this, Allegra?"

"HELL YES I AM!" Allegra cheered and the other fairies around them looked at her weirdly.

"What? I don't think it'll be as bad as people say it is!" The auburn-haired fairy shrugged as she and the other fairies filed into the Magical Simulation Chamber's control room.

"You're a brave soul then, Allegra..." Abigail said as she came in and went to stand next to some of her own friends.

"Nah. She's just nuts!" Someone called over.

"Okay ladies, settle down, settle down. I'm sure you will all do fine on this practice run..." Palladium walked into the control room, glancing at the magic tablet he held in one hand.

_"Yep. You're sure. I'm not..."_ Neima muttered darkly.

"For today's practice run, you will be fighting your way through a hostile environment..." Palladium's statement was met by cries of outrage.

"How in the name of the Great Dragon isn't that _hard?_" Abigail exclaimed, looking terrified.

"Now, now ladies. Calm down. The environment was constructed while bearing in mind the fact that you're only at Freshman level so it won't be as difficult as if you were a Senior level Enchantix fairy..." Palladium reassured them.

"That doesn't sound very reassuring!" Neima exclaimed, wide-eyed.

"Anyway... Who's first?" Palladium asked hopefully.

Allegra's was the first (and only) hand to go up.

"Okay then. Allegra, you go first." Palladium opened the Chamber itself and allowed her in.

Standing in the middle, Allegra waited for the Simulation to be loaded before transforming.

This environment was a rainforest type environment with swamps, trees so tall and leafy that she could barely see the sky and...

"HOLY CRAP! GIANT MOSQUITOES! I CAN BARELY TAKE ON THE REGULAR SIZED ONES!" Allegra screamed out in frustration as she saw the giant mosquitoes heading straight for her.

She threw up a bright orange shield and deflected several of them away from her, some of them dissolving on impact.

"Remember Allegra, you must make your way to the edge of this environment to the "safe spot" in order to complete the test..." Palladium's voice rang through her ears.

"Aye, aye, Professor!" She put more power into her shield which ended up blasting the remaining mosquitoes backwards into some trees where they dissolved upon impact.

She quickly took to the sky, using her magic to cut through some trees and vines that impeded her.

After some time and several obstacles- which includes bat-monkeys with very sharp claws and fangs, carnivorous plants and other things that Allegra wouldn't care to remember, she made it to the end of the simulation when she spotted what looked like a beach coast of a resort.

She put her hands on her hips as she landed on the shore.

"Really Professor, really? A beach and a swamp together? Is that even possible?"

"Not without magic it isn't." Professor Palladium answered smoothly as the simulation faded away and Allegra stomped out of the simulation, de-transforming only when she was back in the control room.

"How did I do in that place of torture anyway?" She asked.

"I will give you all written assessments at the end of the class. Now who's next? Or do I have to call for volunteers now?" Palladium asked.

"Oh okay then. I'll go next, Professor..." Neima volunteered.

* * *

"That was not fun at all!" Neima complained as she and Allegra left the class once it was over.

"I know! I hate mosquitoes!" Allegra whined. "They're always so itchy and they buzz around your ears all the time when you want to sleep! I don't have to put up with them at home, granted, but they're _still_ annoying!"

"You're complaining about mosquitoes? What about the GIANT SNAKE that almost crushed me to death with its _tail?_" A random classmate of theirs asked as she walked past.

"That exercise didn't help with my fear of heights at all when that... _I don't even know what it was... _shot me out of the air!" Neima whimpered.

"Well I guess it's time we studied more for that class because if that's just the practice run, I don't even want to know what the actual exam would be like..." Allegra shuddered at the thought.

* * *

"So... Simone, got any plans this weekend?" Arthur asked.

"Yes, but they don't involve you Arthur. With your reputation I can't actually trust you. You're way too much of a player. I could never believe that you were telling the truth about actually liking me. We're just friends, _nothing more._" The pretty, hot-pink haired girl he had recently been seen with sat next to him on a park bench in Magix Central Park.

"Why is it so hard to believe that I might actually like you, Simone? You're not like any of the other girls I've been with. You're intelligent, graceful, beautiful, funny... Everything a guy could possibly want in a woman!" Arthur exclaimed.

"Yeah. I'm the girl you can't have. That's what makes me more attractive to you. We're only friends Arthur. I'm not about to cross the boundary with you. And I've almost had it up to here with your antics. I'm not your girlfriend, but a woman can only put up with so much even if she's just your friend, Arthur. We might have both grown up on Solaria but we grew up on opposite sides of the tracks. My mom had to work all my life for everything we have. Yours didn't. Your way is paid through Red Fountain just because of who your parents are. I had to get the best grades to even get into Alfea, furthermore to get a full scholarship and have my living expenses sponsored like my mom did. You live in the lap of luxury. I may not have been poor, but I've never owned anything particularly expensive in my life. I appreciate everything in my life but you... you're ungrateful for what you have because it's always been handed to you and you've never had to worry about where it came from!" Simone stood up.

"You've wanted to say that for a long time, haven't you?" Arthur said.

"Yes, yes I have wanted to say that for a long time. Did you know that I was listed in the _"Girls Prince Arthur of Solaria Has Been Seen With_" section of the _Neima's Place_ website? I don't like being seen as just another one of your girls, Arthur..." Simone narrowed her eyes at him.

_"I must have a word with Jaden about his sister's website..."_ Arthur thought angrily.

"You'd have to prove to me that your feelings for me are sincere, Arthur. I don't think I can trust you. With your track record, can you really blame me?" Simone asked sadly.

"I guess not..." Arthur agreed reluctantly.

"Now I have to go. I have homework I need to finish. I just needed to see you in person and get this off my chest..." Simone sighed as she turned and walked away.

Arthur turned and walked away, sighing as well. He always knew his past would come back to bite him in the ass...

* * *

Noémie, dressed in cold weather gear with her hair down and waist-length instead of shoulder length actually looked moderately innocent as she walked down the streets of Paris with Rafe.

"We need to get started on obtaining ze ingredients of zis spell. I know where I'll get ze last ingredient of ze bunch, but zat is also ze hardest to get and ze last one I need in all so I won't worry about zat until I get to it..." She said.

"Wow. Most people go out for drinks and have a good time on their birthdays. You spend your nice, cool November birthday hunting for spell ingredients for an extremely difficult spell." Rafe chuckled.

"Well, I'm not most people as I theenk you should 'ave found out for yourself by now..." Noémie smirked.

"You most certainly aren't." He linked his arm in hers. "So, where are we headed first?"

"We need to go to ze Magix Dimension again. Isis would probably be ze best place to get it. We need Black Diamond dust..." Noémie said.

"Buying it or stealing it?" Rafe asked.

"We'd have to steal eet. They keep ze rarest of their rare gems locked away in ze Royal Treasury. Breaking into places _does_ get rather monotonous after a while though..." Noémie sighed.

"_Breaking into places_ gets monotonous she says. Woman, what's exiting for you?" Rafe asked.

"Besides you? A lot of other things." Noémie smirked. "But for now, we head to Isis."

* * *

"You ready for this, Jo?"

"You can bet the Sceptre of Solaria that I am, Nori!"

Joanna and Eleanor walked into the duelling room where the Duelling Skills challenge was to take place.

"Yeah, good luck with that. I'm not taking part in this one..." Eleanor went to find a seat and ended up sitting next to another witch, who looked East Indian in appearance.

"How quickly do you think that Joanna's going to win her round?" The witch asked her.

"Pretty quickly. Who are you by the way?" Eleanor asked.

"Oh, I'm Tanaya, Joanna's roommate from last year. She never told you about me?" Tanaya raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yes! The Earthling witch from that place called Trinidad! She said you were "tolerable" compared to her other roommates, whatever that means..." Eleanor rolled her eyes.

Tanaya chuckled. "Sounds like something she'd say. Let's just sit back and watch the show though, shall we?"

Eleanor nodded. "That's okay with me!" She settled into her seat and turned her attention to the centre of the room where the duels were to take place.

Joanna and the others who had entered the tournament were called to a side by Professor Zarathustra.

"Young witches, please remember that this is only a school duel that could earn you prizes and extra credits, not a petty fight or a fight for your life so keep that in mind please. You can also use physical attacks such as punches and kicks but as I basically said before, don't go overboard..." Zarathustra's gaze went through the small crowd gathered around her, settling on Joanna and a few others.

"Understand that anyone who intentionally overdoes it even after hearing this warning will spend some time in the Detention Dimension. _Is that clear?_"

"Yes mam!" They said in chorus.

"Good. The first duel is between Isadora..." She looked at a girl with shoulder-length green hair and dark blue eyes who smirked. "...and Adira." A girl with dirty blonde, waist-length hair and grey-blue eyes smirked back at Isadora.

"Take your places..." Zarathustra said to them. "Joanna, come over here..."

As the others went to watch the duel, Joanna stood to a side with Zarathustra.

"You will have to wear this during your duels in this competition." She conjured up a black bracelet.

"Let me guess: power limiter to make sure I don't go overboard, what with me having my powers over the Shadowfire?" Joanna asked.

"Correct. That's an unfair advantage in and of itself..."

"Since when do witches play fair?" Joanna raised an eyebrow.

"They do if they want to participate in this challenge..."

_"Fine."_ Joanna grumbled, slipping it on and feeling its immediate effect on her magic. "These things just feel so _wrong._ I don't even know what I'd do if I had to wear one of these long-term or worse, actually had my powers taken away or nullified..." She shuddered at the very thought.

"Deal with it. Your duel today is duel number three against Carly. Be prepared." Zarathustra walked off to watch the start of Isadora and Adira's fight.

"Fine then. I'll win even with my powers limited anyway." Joanna transformed and stood to a side with the other witches who were participating to watch the first fight.

* * *

Arthur slunk into his dorm room, giving Jaden the evil eye as Lewis and Adrian played video games and Jaden stood to a side, watching them.

"Wow. What's his problem? Did you see the way he looked at you, Jaden?" Lewis asked.

"I did. I wonder what I did to piss him off this time..." Jaden rolled his eyes and returned his focus to watching Lewis and Adrian play the game.

"He's not that important, guys. Let's just get back to the game so I can kick your ass..." Adrian said.

They continued the game and as luck would have it, Lewis won the game instead of Adrian.

"And you thought you would win? Oh please. My video game skills have grown significantly sharper over time. You didn't think you'd win all the time, did you?" Lewis gloated.

"Shut up, Dragon Boy." Adrian grumbled, tossing aside the game controller.

"Anyway, my bed is beckoning to me. You two morons can stay out here if you like. _I'm _going to sleep..." Jaden said, heading for his room.

"Dude, what's up with you?" Jaden looked Arthur up and down as the Solarian prince gave his roommate the dirtiest look he could muster.

"I do not want to talk to you right now." Arthur said quietly.

"Seriously, Arthur. _What the hell did I do?_" Jaden asked, folding his arms.

"Why don't you ask your sister, huh?" Arthur retorted.

"My sister? What did Neima do?" Jaden raised an eyebrow.

"That damn website of hers is ruining my love life..." Arthur grumbled.

"Ha! _You? _Prince Arthur of Solaria has a _love life?_ I thought you just had flings with girls and nothing more!" Jaden snorted.

"Shut up, Jaden. You don't know a thing." Arthur snapped.

"Yeah, _sure I don't._ I'll believe that when I see it. You, in actual love. Ha!" Jaden chuckled.

_"Shut up, Jaden!"_ Arthur said in a warning tone.

"I will, but only because I want to get to bed. I still don't believe you..." Jaden snorted as he went to get himself ready for bed.

* * *

"And here you go, Noémie. _Bon anniversaire._" Rafe chuckled as he handed her a small, silver box.

"_Merci,_ Rafe. This a very nice gift indeed..." Noémie smirked.

She and Rafe had made short work of the guards around the Royal Treasury building.

While he had taken care of most of the guards, she had used her shapeshifting abilities to get to the box containing the Black Diamond dust.

They were now sitting in her room at the mansion examining the box.

"Not a bad way to spend your twenty-fifth birthday, is it?" Rafe asked her.

"Not at all, _young man._" Noémie joked.

"Young man? I'm twenty-two. That's just three years younger than you, _old lady_!" Rafe retorted.

"You are younger zan me, but you do not act like eet at all. You are much more... _tolerable _zan most men I have been around and definitely more zan my two old boyfriends." Noémie chortled.

"And you're certainly not the average girl at all..." Rafe laughed. "So, what's next on your shopping list?"

Noémie got up and went to one of her hidden wall-drawers to retrieve the Tome.

She leafed through it until she got to the back.

"I see now. Ingredients two and three... Oh hell, zis is going to be much tougher zan I thought..." Her eyes widened.

"What? What are they?" Rafe asked, scooting over to take a peek.

"An agent of healing that reverses the flow of time and an agent of death that will represent the mortality of the deceased... What is zis...? Why do zese spells always have to be so damn _cryptic?_" Noémie raised an eyebrow at the book.

"That's just how ancient spells are, my friend." Rafe grinned, making Noémie roll her eyes.

"We'll find a way to get them though. And I'll help you. Trust me on that one. Now can we _please_ put your quest aside for a moment and go do something _fun_ for your birthday like get drunk out of our minds? I hear Paris has some of the best alcohol in the world..." Rafe suggested.

"Now zat I can do quite easily..." Noémie grinned as the pair got up and made their way out to head into Central Paris.


End file.
